Golden week travel proving less popular

Travel companies based in China's southern province of Guangzhou were dumbfounded by the lack of customers during the 2006 National Day Holiday.

Travel agents have also noticed, a week before the holiday, that tour package registration fell by forty percent. Previous national anniversaries have generated at the very least eighty percent in travel registration during the same period.

It was later determined that majority of the Chinese now prefer spending their festivals at home. The common sight during national holidays was the enormous number of people that tend to flock tourist spots which the bulkier portion of the population are now trying to avoid.

Figures from travel firms indicate that the commonly famous destinations have yielded a fifty percent reduction in travel reservations in 2006. It is also important to note that even the lower-priced tour packages have also lost a significant volume of its usual clientele.

To address the problem, travel agencies have readjusted tour packages by reducing extensive tours and increasing recreational or leisure tour packages.

Guangzhou tour operators have also lowered the travel prices earlier than scheduled to attract more customers.