Time for a policy U-turn.
“Chinese dream” is the new party slogan, but of what do the Chinese dream? Wealth, national power and…travel. Chinese tourists abroad make headlines, and for good reason: the growing wave of outbound travelers shapes everything from luxury pricing in Europe to factory outlets in US. Domestic tourism, however, is proving just as lucrative. Many early travelers were businessmen, but an online travel revolution has marshaled an army of price comparison and booking sites for everything from plane and train tickets to hotel rooms. The biggest obstacle to the emerging domestic tourist industry? The answer is, strangely enough, vacation time.
Tourism, Chinese-style, balances government mandate and private aspiration. The equation’s first term is state-mandated vacation time. 1999 marked the start of Golden Weeks, 7-day holiday periods marking National Day and Chinese New Year. Reform in 2008 added traditional festivals like Tomb Sweeping Day and Dragon Boat Festival to the calendar as 3-day holidays. The time off does indeed prove golden for business; the recent Labour Day spurred retail in tier-one metro poles like Beijing and Shanghai.
Urban residents, however, want to vacation away from urban space. When the calendar lands on a festival, rural scenic areas find local government competing for nationally-mandated tourist droves. And while big city infrastructure is made to handle peak season stress, day trippers cause massive congestion in transit and (literally) a big mess. Piles of trash, however, also mean piles of cash. “One-ticket” systems, essentially an entrance fee for China’s historic towns, are a frequent gambit by local tyrants to capitalize on the bigger system. But high prices can also drive away foot traffic and drive local vendors to protest.
China’s demographic heft is part of the domestic tourism crunch. 1.3 billion people cannot fly economy or finding a parking spot on the same jumbled schedule. Then again, they don’t have to. The holiday system dates from a bygone era when workers had drastically lower incomes and no Weibo to root out bosses unwilling to grant leave. The average Chinese has much greater buying power now; then again, many basic demands (clean water, safe food packaging) remain unmet. Even free time is not exempt.
