Some things just get better with time.
This year’s week-long holiday celebration of the 67th Chinese National Day from Oct. 1-7 produced more tourists and registered higher profits, according to China Daily.
Some 593 million tourist flocked natural and man-made scenic and historic spots across the country during the entire Golden Week, creating 482.2 billion yuan in revenue in the process.
On Oct. 1 alone, the holiday generated 86 billion yuan in profits.
Technological advancement evidently made its presence felt all throughout the holiday, and that was not only in terms of selfies taken.
Back in 1999 when the holiday was first introduced, the various tourist activities brought 14.1 billion yuan in total earnings, with people usually paying in cold cash. Fast forward to 2016 and roughly 40 million tourists preferred cashless transactions via Alipay, Alibaba Group’s payment app, reported CCTV News.
A joint report by Beijing-based research institution China Tourism Academy and online travel service provider Ctrip revealed that for this year’s celebration, 64 percent of the people used their smartphones to buy airline tickets, book flights and reserve hotel rooms, among other online dealings, according to China Daily.
CTA and Ctrip likewise conducted a survey to identify the most visited cities during the National Day, and these were the favored destinations (in alphabetical order): Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan and Xi’an.
Majority of the Chinese chose to visit Japan, South Korea and Thailand--in no particular order--when they vacationed abroad during the National Day, according to Ctrip.
Tourist attractions--from a theme park made popular by a mouse to a see-through bridge not for the faint of heart--dealt with the overflowing number of people seemingly determined to enjoy what the holiday had to offer.
Many visitors at Shanghai Disneyland purportedly waited for up two hours falling in line, according to Quartz. Some of those excited to be among the first ones to experience crossing the Flying Dragon Bridge in Zhejiang Province endured three hours waiting for their turn.
The glass bridged opened to public on Oct. 1.
Despite the new attractions in the country, throngs of tourists never missed Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City.
Queenie Li, the public relations manager of Beijing Utour International Travel Service, said to CCTV News that she never expected the overwhelming influx of tourists--more than 100 million--during the first three days of the holiday celebration.
Li added that it “brought a lot of pressure.”
For business establishments particularly those in the food service, lodging, recreation and travel and tourism industries, perhaps they welcome such pressure with open arms.