Starting October 1 China will shut down for one of their “Golden Week” weeklong holidays, and this year a record number of people will spend that time traveling.
According to the the China Tourism Academy, 589 million Chinese people are expected to travel which is an increase of 12 percent from last year. It’s also almost half of the entire population. It’s estimated that the country will spend $70 billion on travel during the week, which comes out to an average of $125 for each household. That’s a 13.5 percent increase in spending since 2015.
During the week many of the travelers choose to stay in the country and visit classic tourist spots such as the Forbidden City in Beijing, but many also choose to leave the country. Seoul, South Korea, and Phuket and Bangkok, Thailand, are some popular locations that can expect to see a lot of Chinese visitors.
October’s Golden Week celebrates National Day, and it usually includes three days of paid holiday. Some believe that the breaks help improve the standard of living and expand the domestic tourism market, while others think that it disrupts the local economy too much when everyone takes their time off at once.
