Chinese defy gloom in tourism

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China's week-long National Day holiday produced a surprising tourism boom as factories and offices across China closed last week. Total tourist revenues for the week from October 1 to October 7 were up 8.6% to Rmb25bn ($3bn) although the number of visits to China's major scenic areas fell 2.3% from last year to 9.9m.

China's airlines added 1,500 domestic and 480 international flights to their schedule to cope with demand. In total almost 270m Chinese are estimated to travel during the holiday week, including 1.5m airline travellers, 21m rail travellers and other travellers on long-distance buses. Beijing experienced a 1.8% increase in Chinese visitors over 2000, as many tourists travelled to see preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games. According to local press reports Beijing department store sales were boosted by more than 20% compared to last year.

Since the introduction of the extended break for the 1 October holiday in 1999, the Chinese government has added other similar "golden week" holidays for May Day and Chinese New Year in  a move intended to encourage consumer spending.