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HEALTH-VIRUS-CHINA-TRAVEL-TOURISM
Millions on the move as China eyes holiday bounce
BEIJING, Oct 1, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Hundreds of millions in China hustled to
enjoy their first major national holiday since the country beat its
coronavirus outbreak, filling airports and train stations on Thursday.
The Golden Week holiday marks the founding of the People’s Republic of
China in 1949 and sees an astonishing annual movement of people trying to get
home or take holidays.
But this year has added significance, with the crowds filling the
concourses pointing to a country rebounding from the outbreak and parading
the freedom to travel as a contrast to the rolling lockdowns hitting much of
the world.
“Normally, we would take a family holiday abroad during the Golden Week,
but this year we opted for a staycation instead,” said Niu Honglin from
Shanghai.
Niu booked rooms in a boutique hotel near Shanghai Disneyland but quickly
encountered the problem of millions of extra tourists hunting fun at home.
“My daughter had to wait in line for nearly three hours to get on a ride,”
she said.
Domestic travel has sprung back to life and given the economy a boost
after the virus shuttered businesses and scared away tourists following its
emergence in Wuhan late last year.
“The Chinese economy has shown strong resilience,” Premier Li Keqiang told
parliament on Wednesday.
“We will nurture new drivers of growth” he vowed, hailing the
“rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”.
Wuhan in central China is back in business too, with visitors thronging to
the Yellow Crane Tower — a Taoist shrine — according to the country’s
biggest travel agency Ctrip.
– Much-needed spending –
More than 600 million trips will be taken during the holiday, down 20
percent from a year ago, Ctrip estimated, but they will still force the state
railway to lay on an 1,000 extra trains a day.
Around 108 million passengers will take trains during the eight-day
holidays — around 13.5 million a day.
They are likely to bring much-needed spending to far-flung parts of China
— last year, travellers spent $9.5 billion during the Golden Week.
Many will take luxury holidays at home, travel operator Quanar said, amid
global travel restrictions.
But the absence of their tourist dollars this year will leave regional
nations — from Thailand to Cambodia — wincing from the economic pain caused
by the prolonged closure of borders.
At Beijing’s Capital Airport — whose check-in rows and aisles were empty
in February — thousands of passengers queued up with their luggage and
children in tow.
Life in the Chinese capital has gradually returned to normal after ghostly
scenes of empty roads in January and February, and a second virus outbreak in
June.
The once eerily empty streets in the city’s financial district are packed,
previously deserted malls are full of shoppers and ice rinks have filled with
children learning to skate again.
Chinese retail sales edged back to growth in August for the first time
since the pandemic struck, signalling a rebound for the world’s second-
largest economy.
BSS/AFP/RY/11:38hrs