East China's Zhejiang Province registered 3.25 million arrivals of domestic tourists during the past Spring Festival holidays, up 12.3 percent from the previous year.

The tourists brought in 2.304 billion yuan (about US$ 265 million) in revenue, up 17.5 percent, according to the provincial tourism bureau.

During the holidays, Zhejiang also attracted over 35,000 overseas tourists, up 18.6 percent.

The coastal province has rich tourism resources. In 2000, it offered a number of specially designed routes to tourists. It also staged special activities, such as the spectacular Qiantang Tide Watching, the Zhoushan Sand Sculpture Show and the Hangzhou Golden Autumn International Tourism Festival.

The Chinese people's traditional habit of staying at home or at work during holiday periods has changed drastically in recent years. The tourism market during holidays is booming, and tourism revenues are on the rise, representing a sound development of what economists call the country's holiday economy.

The term holiday economy debuted in 1999, when the country's annual public holidays were increased to 114 days, with three lengthened major holidays.

After that, people began to flock to tourism destinations during holidays, giving rise to a boom in domestic consumption. Meanwhile, services, transportation, entertainment and a series of tourism-related industries have been promoted.

With the burgeoning holiday tourism market at the beginning of the Chinese lunar Year of the Horse, economists believe that holiday tourism and entertainment industries will become new promoters of the country's economic development in this century.

(People's Daily February 24, 2002)