economy - the Holiday debate


Last night I went out with my small group of friends and veteran China-analysts to Hongqiao, where we decided that our visit to Hooters would be the last ever. But at the nearby Fresco Pasta we had good food and some time to discuss some hot topics. The idea of quitting the three golden weeks in stead of paid annual leave stirred up some emotions.
The golden weeks were installed only at 1999 to let the Chinese shop their economy out of the economic crisis, with amazing results. Now, increasingly, the idea of sending 1.3 billion people at the same time on a holiday has also its drawbacks. The question is: what would be the alternative.
One of my friends just returned from business at Hainan island - the last place he would ever go for a holiday, he said. Thousands beds at holiday resorts are added to the many thousands that already stand empty, outside the three weeklong holidays. But there would be major problems in getting tourism rolling at Hainan.
Getting people there would already be a logistical challenge, since you would need a larger number of 747's to get tourists there, and those are lacking. Then, there was nothing there, apart from the beaches and the expensive hotels, so that would not be very attractive to a non-Chinese audience, who would rather visit Thailand.
Reshuffling the golden weeks would create another problems, we analyzed. Looking at our friends and staff, we estimated that a larger number would not go on a holiday, when they could decide themselves. The Golden Weeks forces them not to work, in most cases people would otherwise rather go to work.
Transportation to Hongqiao sucks, but otherwise the area has changed greatly for the better.