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Tourists from Hubei Province pose for photos in Chinese emperors clothing during the Lunar New Year holiday at the start of the ‘Year of the Dragon’ in Beijing on January 27, 2012.

Chinese leaders want the country’s workers to try out something they seldom do: take a vacation.

China will “implement the system of paid vacation” within the next year, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced in his opening speech at the Chinese legislature’s annual planning sessions on Monday.

The announcement comes roughly a month after the southwestern municipality of Chongqing explained the suspicious disappearance of its former police chief by saying he was suffering exhaustion and had decided to undergo “vacation-style treatment” – a phrase quickly taken up by Chinese Internet users, many of whom jokingly wondered why only government officials were afforded such luxuries.

While Mr. Wen didn’t offer details on the government’s vacation plans, experts within the tourism industry say his statement was meant to enforce legislation that was introduced in 2008, which promised between five and 15 days days of paid annual leave a year to workers depending on how long they’ve worked.

Many Chinese workers have been too fearful of losing their jobs to take allotted paid leave so the government is stepping in to protect them, said Gu Huimin, an associate dean at the school of tourism management at Beijing International Studies University. Ensuring that workers get enough rest and recuperation, Ms. Gu noted, has the added benefit of giving them more time to travel and shop — a good way to help the government achieve its goal of boosting domestic consumption.

So-called leisure consumption in China reached $338 billion in 2010, up 14% from a year earlier, according to the most recent study on travel from China’s National Tourism Administration and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

But it could be more, the study said. Of the 2441 workers surveyed, 55% said they’d never taken paid vacation and 24% said they occasionally enjoyed the benefit. Only 22% said they used their vacation every year.

Leaders also likely believe that time off will help relieve some of the physical and psychological pressure that China’s labor force has faced in the country’s breakneck pursuit of economic growth, Ms. Gu said, adding that a more rested worker population might help stabilize Chinese society.

A rash of strikes at manufacturing plants earlier this year and suicides at factories belonging Apple supplier Foxconn in 2010 have raised concerns about the health of the country’s workers and the environments in which they work each day.

Most factory workers and low-skilled laborers in China only leave work during major holidays. Many only take time off during Chinese New Year, a long holiday that gives migrant workers enough time to travel home.

Over the past several years, Chinese leaders have been working to give migrant workers and other employees more time for travel, tweaking their country’s public holidays by combining holidays that had once been sporadically spread out and creating back-to-back days off for long journeys.

Even if vacation is encouraged and enforced, it doesn’t mean workers will use it to spend their money, some experts warn. Consumers in the middle class still face stiff competition and an imperfect social security that prevents them from feeling comfortable about spending their cash, Wei Xiang, a tourism industry analyst told the state-owned Global Times last year.

“There is still an array of problems for the middle class,” the newspaper quoted Mr. Wei as saying. “They can afford to spend money on leisure but don’t always do so.”

– Laurie Burkitt. Follow her on Twitter @lburkitt

WELLINGTON, March 5 (Xinhua) — A record number of visitors from China in January helped push the monthly number of travelers crossing New Zealand borders over the 1-million mark for the first time, the government statistics agency announced Monday.

“There were 1.002 million international passengers in January 2012, the first time this number has exceeded 1 million in any month,” Statistics New Zealand population indicators project manager Susan Hollows said in a statement.

In January, 266,800 overseas visitors arrived in New Zealand, up less than 1 percent from January 2011.

The increase was mainly due to 7,000 more arrivals to visit friends and relatives, while holiday-makers were down 4,200 and arrivals for conferences and conventions were down 800.

The number of visitors from the Chinese mainland at 23,300 was up by 8,800 from January last year and the highest recorded for any month.

New Zealand also saw more visitors from Australia (up 1,500), Malaysia (up 1,000) and Hong Kong (up 1,000), but fewer from South Korea (down 1,100), Japan (down 3,000), and the United Kingdom ( down 4,400).

“Travel from China’s Mainland and Hong Kong in January was boosted by the earlier timing of Chinese New Year (23 January),” said a commentary from Statistics New Zealand.

“In 2010 and 2011, Chinese New Year was in February. Visitor arrivals from China’s Mainland numbered 23,300 in January 2012, surpassing the previous monthly high of 18,600 in November 2011.”

The median stay of Chinese visitors was six days, up from the four days recorded in January 2011.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler described the 60.4 percent rise in the number of visitors from China as ” staggering”.

“The significant growth seen in China can be attributed to the earlier celebration of the Chinese New Year in January this year, which fell in February in 2011,” said Bowler in a statement.

The rise in the number of Chinese visitors in January exceeded the forecast of Tourism New Zealand.

In January, Tourism New Zealand general manager Asia markets Mark Frood told Xinhua the government tourism agency was expecting a 25-percent rise over the 14,550 Chinese who travelled to New Zealand in January 2011.

China Southern Airlines began direct flights between Auckland and Guangzhou in April last year, increasing to daily services in November, while Air New Zealand expanded its direct services to Shanghai and Beijing over the southern summer months.

In the year to the end of November 2011, the number of Chinese travelers to New Zealand was up 17.5 percent to 141,289, of whom 94,917 went on holiday, according to official New Zealand statistics.

About 75 percent of the holiday-makers came on organized tours and the rest as independent travelers, but the numbers were shifting more to independent travel, Frood told Xinhua.

TAIYUAN – A massive facelift will be given to one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China, as North China’s Shanxi province plans to inject 1.8 billion yuan ($286 million) to boost tourism in the area.

Wutai Mountain, located 240 km from the provincial capital of Taiyuan and enrolled as a cultural landscape on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2009, will get the investment to improve its infrastructure, relic protection and tourist facilities in the next few years, Wang Jianwu, director of Shanxi culture heritage bureau, said on Feb 27.

The number of domestic and overseas tourists to the mountain has risen steadily in recent years. During the week-long Spring Festival holiday this year, 86,900 visitors came, said Liu Binglong, director of the mountain’s administration bureau.

Tourists pray and burn incense at a temple in Wutai Mountain, one of China’s four sacred Buddhist mountains, in Shanxi province. [Wei Liang / China News Service]

Wutai Mountain, literally the “five-terrace mountain”, is identified as the place where Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of wisdom (Wenshu Buddha), once lived and taught Buddhism.

It is the only holy mountain where both Chinese Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism were practiced, and it is commonly regarded as the most prestigious of the four sacred mountains.

The mountain is home to a rich legacy of temples and shrines, life-size clay sculptures, statues and paintings, and has traditionally served as a summer resort with the alternate name “Clear and Cool Mountain”.

The hefty investment pledge is part of the Shanxi government’s broader development strategy to strengthen the cultural sector and promote eco-friendly energy use, long overshadowed by a robust coal industry.

Under the plan, 665 million yuan will be allocated to improve environmental and housing conditions on eight major projects, including river treatment, installation of a waste disposal and sewage system, central heating and gas supply, and forest and wetland protection, Liu said.

About 80 million yuan will be used for the construction of a Buddhist culture museum, a geological museum, an exhibition hall presenting the mountain’s bid for UNESCO world heritage listing, and a 4-D cinema. More funding is planned for forest-fire surveillance, shuttle-bus terminals and light-rail tracks.

Another 300 million yuan will be used for the relocation of two villages, Taihuaijie and Wayao, involving 512 people from 137 households, Liu added.

In view of such a big investment, some National People’s Congress deputies from Shanxi attending the annual plenary session in Beijing, have called for favorable policies from the central government.

“I hope the central government could agree to raise the ticket price for Wutai Mountain from the existing 140 yuan to 190 yuan to ensure sufficient funding for better protection of the sacred place,” Ma Linfeng, a deputy from Shanxi, said on Saturday. She said she will submit such a proposal to the top legislature this year.

Ma said she had compared the ticket price at Wutai Mountain with other similar tourist sites in China and found most were much higher. “For example, the peak-season ticket price for the Yellow Mountain in East China’s Anhui province is 230 yuan.”

Local people living at the foot of Wutai Mountain also look forward to more business opportunities arising from the ambitious development plan.

Liang Bin, 23, runs a souvenir shop near the mountain and, during the peak season from May to October, also works for a travel agency. He earns around 40,000 yuan a year.

New roads are being built, Liang said, that authorities had promised to finish by May.

“It is good news for the mountain. There were no pipes for running water, no sewage system. Electric wires used to be randomly connected,” Liang said. He expects to see more modern conveniences, wider and safer roads and a greener mountain.

Given these improvements, Liang said he is also hoping to see more tourists and business booming.

Zhu Zhe contributed to this story.

 An influential Chinese film star is so impressed with Queenstown that she wants to buy a home here.

Dong Xuan visited the resort last week as part of a week-long New Zealand trip sponsored by Auckland International Airport, Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development and wholesale partners in China.

The trip was designed to showcase NZ as a premium travel product, especially through social media – Dong has more than 3.2 million followers on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Facebook.

While in Queenstown she went jetboating with Shotover Jet, took a lake cruise on the Earnslaw steamship, travelled to Arrowtown and flew to Milford Sound by helicopter.

Mountain Scene spoke to Dong with interpreting help from Auckland Airport Asian development manager Helen Li.

“She even wants to come here, to Queenstown, and buy a house and live here, this is her next goal,” Li says.

“This kind of scene, she can only see from the movies and she really wants to live here.”

Asked what Dong is telling her followers about NZ, Li says: “If she wants to use one word to describe NZ that would be ‘pure’.

“It’s not just about the scenery or the air, it’s also about culture and the people here, they are very pure as well.”

Glenn Wedlock, Auckland Airport’s general manager aeronautical commercial, comments: “We are working in market with the trade industry to build premium travel markets from China, and this part of the programme enables us to highlight NZ and the depth of product for premium markets around the country.

“In China, celebrities like Miss Dong have significant influence, so the power of her recommendations to visit NZ can’t be underestimated.”

Li, interpreting for Dong, says it’s common to travel to NZ in tour groups.

“It’s not her idea of having a holiday, which is you try to relax yourself.”

Dong comments on the number of unique NZ experiences, like landing a helicopter on a glacier and visiting Milford Sound.

According to a Chinese movie website, Dong, 29, has starred in eight movies since 2007 and 21 TV series since 2003.

Sunshine Coast Destination Ltd (SCDL) will visit China for the first time this week to increase awareness of the region as part of the Queensland on Tour China mission. SCDL will meet with key buyers and wholesalers from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The Tourism Queensland event will visit the southern regions of Guangzhou and Sanya, tapping into access with China Southern flights from Guangzhou to Brisbane. SCDL will meet one-on-one with key travel buyers, front line staff and wholesale product managers through a week of appointments and networking events.

“China certainly provides a huge opportunity for the Sunshine Coast, given the growth that Australia and Queensland is realising from this market,” said Steve Cooper, CEO of SCDL.

“However, there is strong competition throughout Queensland, Australia and the world for Chinese visitors. The Sunshine Coast is embarking on the start of this journey.

“The Sunshine Coast is positioning and marketing the golf experience, anchored by the prestige of being home to the Australian PGA Championship and boasting four other championship courses. We will also showcase other naturally refreshing activities in and around the golf experience, for families and partners. Focusing on this differentiated selling proposition is crucial to our success,” says Mr Cooper.

Hyatt Regency Coolum and the Mantra group are also representing the Sunshine Coast region at the Queensland on Tour event.

“Whilst the Sunshine Coast is a relatively new entrant to the China market, foundation relationships are being established with key players and will continue to be nurtured through meetings later this year at Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) to be held in Perth, supporting trade and media visits, Inbound Tour Operator engagement in Australia and showcasing the region to key operators working in the Chinese market at ATEC Symposium.

“Sunshine Coast Council led by Councillor Jenny MacKay has already established good connections in China through formulating government relations in our sister city of Xiamen. We are pleased to build on this hard work with a focus on dealing directly with the travel trade,” added Mr Cooper.

China is Queensland’s fourth largest and fastest growing international market with 202,000 Chinese visiting our state in the year ending September 2011, 17% more than the year prior. The Chinese Ambassador is expected to visit the Sunshine Coast later this year.

The guide will launch the Star Ratings of hotels and spas in its fifth international city, Shanghai, China in April 2012. 

With over fifty years of experience in hospitality ratings and information, Forbes Travel Guide continues to expand its reach around the globe with the goal of providing consumers with a unified Five-Star based rating system.

Forbes Travel Guide expanded its ratings from North America into Asia in 2008, with the introduction of its Five-Star ratings into Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing and Singapore.  Its newest destination, Shanghai, will be added to the Forbes Travel Guide online social platform, Startle.com.

“We spent over a year immersing ourselves in the city and while the physical properties of the hotels and spas in Shanghai are extraordinarily impressive, it is their meticulous attention to service that makes the city an ideal Five-Star destination,” said Shane O’Flaherty, Forbes Travel Guide’s President, International and Ratings.

Forbes Travel Guide uses stars to represent levels of quality, with its coveted Five-Star Award certification the highest achievement for hotels, restaurants or spas. To ensure consistency, the Forbes Travel Guide inspectors make visits to every rated property. Each property receives an announced inspection during which the inspector uses a checklist to evaluate cleanliness, physical condition and location.

For qualified full-service properties, an unannounced inspector checks into each property and stays overnight for several days, evaluating the property on more than 550 service standar­ds.  Standards for Forbes Travel Guide’s Five-Star Award are precise and consistent, and only 57 properties have been able to attain the designation worldwide.

In addition to its Five and Four-Star Awards, Forbes Travel Guide will also honor outstanding properties in five additional categories, recognizing the hotels in Shanghai based on their unique attributes. These categories will include Top Business Hotel, Top Historic Hotel, Top Boutique Hotel, Top New Hotel and Top Technology Hotel.  All of these winners will also be announced as part of the Forbes Travel Guide Star Rating announcement in mid-April 2012.

For a detailed explanation of how Forbes Travel Guide compiles its Star Ratings, visit, www.startle.com, the online home of Forbes Travel Guide.

China is working on the speedy commuter railway service to ease travels between metropolitans and and their satellite towns, a senior railway expert said Saturday.

China’s major state-owned train manufacturers, China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation and China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corporation, are both busy developing new trains suitable for such service, said Li Heping, a researcher at the China Academy of Railway Sciences.

A prototype of the speedy commuter train, designed to travel at a speed of 200 km to 250 km, is expected to roll off the assembly line by the end of this year, said Li, also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), on the sidelines of the top advisory body’s annual session.

Over the decades, the country has seen fast development of cities and city groups, especially in industrialized Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the Yangtze River and Pearl River deltas, he said.

“Many people have to commute between satellite towns and the city center. If we introduce the commuter railway of higher speed, it will make people’s life easier,” he said.

Although the new commuter train travels at a lower speed than high-speed train, researchers have to crack a number of technological problems, he said.

For example, since the commuter railway service runs in a short distance, trains have to speed up and slow down in a much shorter time, which needs accurate control system, he said.

This week marks Japan’s one year anniversary of the killer earthquake and tsunami. Additionally, threats of nuclear meltdowns and spread of radiation rattled the nerves of many would-be  travelers.

Now, one thing the country needs, particularly as it rebuilds, are tourists from overseas. Specifically, the pitch is on to visitors from mainland China.

The Japanese tourism industry saw the number of visitors plunge by at least 50 percent the middle of last year after March 11. But now, the rebound is under way, despite Japan’s soaring currency.

In the fashionable district of Ginza, at one high-end department store, the number of international shoppers isn’t only up but part of the business is actually better than it was before the devastating earthquake and tsunami, managers say. When 50 percent of those visitors are Chinese, the store is mindful of the products that catch their eye — whether it’s a kind of makeup, or a type of cuisine.

But the tourism pitch goes beyond japan’s borders — take the “Vibrant Japan” exhibition, in Beijing. Where all things Japanese, from the food, to the culture, even Hello Kitty, are on display.

It’s all part of an ambitious plan to roughly triple the number of international tourists by 2016. A heavy focus on catering to their neighbors to the west and hoping that Japan’s struggling economy faces clear skies ahead.

MUMBAI: Did you know that an Indian tourist in Australia spends Rs 3.37 lakh on average? Or that desi travellers contributed nearly $4 billion (almost Rs 20,000 crore) to the US economy in 2010? In a reflection of the changing global trend, tourists from India and China are increasingly acquiring the status of big spenders. Data on the average sums spent by a tourist per trip substantiates this pattern. In Australia and South Africa, tourists from these two Asian countries outspend those from the US and the UK.

Of all the countries that Indians travel to, it is in Australia that they spend the most per trip, followed by the US and South Africa. Data from Down Under is relevant as it is the country where the average spend/tourist is the highest, according to United Nations World Tourism Organization statistics for 2010. Average spend includes all expenses incurred on the trip like airfare, hotel tariff, food, shopping, etc.

On average, an Indian tourist spent Rs 3.37 lakh on her Australian holiday, according to data provided by Tourism Australia for the 12-month period ending September 2011. That’s Rs 1 lakh more than what an average British or American tourist spent in Australia in the same time period. The French and Italians spent more than Indians though, as their average tourist spend was Rs 3.4 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh. The Chinese beat them with an average spending of Rs 3.9 lakh. The Saudis topped the list with each visitor spending Rs 7.4 lakh on a trip, but there were only some 11,000 of them.

In South Africa, Indians outspend those from US

In South Africa, Indian and Chinese tourists outspend those from the US, France, Germany and Canada. According to the South African Tourism annual report, 2010, the average amount spent by an Indian tourist was Rs 82,000. In comparison, the average spend/German tourist was Rs 67,000; for British tourists, it was Rs 70,000 and Rs 78,000 for American tourists. Tourists from neighbouring countries like Angola, Congo, Swaziland show higher average spending as they buy electronic goods from South Africa, said a tourism official. If the African countries are excluded, then the Chinese top the list of high spenders in South Africa with their average tourist spending Rs 1.23 lakh.

The picture alters dramatically if instead of average spend/tourist, the total spending by tourists of a specific country is considered. India is nowhere near the top. This is mainly because despite globalization and increased disposable incomes, the number of Indians travelling abroad is comparatively lower. The UNWTO ranked China at number seven in its international tourism’s top spenders list in 2005. In 2010, China climbed up to number three position as its nationals spent a staggering $55 billion abroad, a 152% jump. For the last six years, Germany has held the top slot ($78 billion), followed by the US ($75 billion). The percentage increase in spending by tourists of these two countries in 2005 as compared to 2010 was around 15-20%. On this list, Indian tourists were ranked number 25 in 2005. The latest data on India is not available.

When it comes to the beneficiaries of tourism, the US attracts top dollar with the highest international tourism receipts amounting to $134.4 billion(expenditure incurred by inbound foreign tourists on airfare, hotel tariff, food, shopping, sightseeing, etc). The US department of commerce data shows that in 2010, Canadian tourists were the biggest spenders as they forked out $20.8 billion. Indian tourists spent $4 billion and held the number nine rank (on an average an Indian tourist spent Rs 3 lakh/trip in the US). The Chinese spent a total of $5 billion and were at number seven. In 2005, Chinese tourists spent a total of only $1.5 billion in the US.

Although Indians are emerging as big spenders in foreign countries, on the flip side the trend highlights the increasing income gap in the country. India occupies only the 134th slot in the 141-nation list of the UN Development Programme’s Human Development Index. So while at first glance, the trend may appear to be one of those cliched India-China-on-the-rise stories, the real beneficiaries in this case are the advanced economies.

BEIJING, March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Qunar, China‘s largest online travel platform, released the 2012 “Two Sessions” Online Travel Consumption Report, pointing out that China‘s upcoming annual gatherings for the Chinese government, commonly known as the “Two Sessions,” will spur a flurry of travel into the capital.

According to Qunar, the largest Chinese travel site in the world, both hotel bookings and flights to Beijing will dramatically rise during the 23 days between February 20 and March 14 this year.

Political gatherings spark travel to Beijing

Qunar’s statistics show that during the same period last year, average daily bookings of flights to Beijing increased by 10.7 percent compared to January 2011, which excludes the week of Chinese New Year. The average daily bookings of hotel rooms in Beijing rose 16.7 percent compared with the previous month.

“The annual political two sessions have become a force, gathering people in Beijing and stimulating consumption,” said Jenna Qian, Qunar’s Deputy General Manager. “During the two-week political events, not only deputies of the National People’s Congress and members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference will gather in Beijing, their entourages, journalists and other people who plan to visit Beijing will also head to the political center, forming a small peak in the travel market in Beijing.”

A city with a rich history and cultural heritage, Beijing attracts hundreds of millions of tourists every year. Tourism is one of the most important driving forces for Beijing‘s local economy. According to the Beijing Municipal Administration of Tourism (BMAT), revenues from tourism in Beijing last year hit a historical high of 321.6 billion yuan, marking the first time that revenue from tourism in Beijing exceeded 300 billion yuan.

This year, BMAT set a higher target through promotions and by expanding tourism-related projects. Total revenue could increase by over 10 percent to 350 billion yuan.

A BMAT spokesperson said revenue of 350 billion yuan means total visits to Beijing should exceed 200 million and travel-related consumption, such as shopping and dining, should account for more than 25 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods in the capital.

Statistics show five trends in online bookings of flight and hotels in Beijing

1. Most of the online bookings of flights to Beijing in 2011 came from southwestern region:

According to statistics provided by Qunar, flight bookings to Beijing in 2011 from February to the end of the “Two Sessions” from southwestern provinces top the list. Among the top 10 cities for online bookings of flights to Beijing, four were from southwestern China: Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming and Guiyang. The six other cities were from eastern, southern and northwestern China.

That trend is continuing during the same period this year, with Chengdu, Chongqing and Kunming among the top 10. Shanghai surpassed Chengdu to take the top spot. Harbin, located in northeastern China, replaced Guiyang in the top 10.

2. People between the ages of 21 and 30 favor online booking

China‘s thriving e-commerce is reshaping people’s consumption habits – one sector where there has been increasing spending is the online travel market.

According to Qunar, 42.13 percent of the online flight tickets bookings are made by the people between the ages of 21 and 30. People between the ages of 31 and 40 ranked second and the age bracket that booked the fewest amount of bookings were people older than 60.

3. Men prefer online booking more than women

Among online bookings for the period stated above, 51.6 percent were made by men, while 48.4 percent were from women.

4. Online hotel bookings peaked at the end of February and declined after the “Two Sessions”

From February 20 to March 14, 2011, the average number of daily hotel bookings in Beijing increased by 16.7 percent compared with the average number of daily bookings in January. Qunar statistics show that the total number of bookings began to rise on February 20 and peaked at the end of February. The total number was nearly twice the average number of daily bookings in January. At the end of the “Two Sessions”, hotel bookings began to decline.

5. Hotel prices near the venues where the annual government gatherings were held increased during the “Two Sessions”

According to Qunar, there are 3,041 hotels within 5 kilometers of the venues and hotels where delegates stayed. During the “two sessions”, some of these hotels have higher booking rate.

About Qunar

Qunar, founded in May 2005 and headquartered in Beijing, is the largest Chinese travel website in the world. The site has around 75 million monthly visits, according to iResearch. Working on helping travelers to make the best travel choice, Qunar organizes enormous information and provides thorough and instant search of flights, hotels, packages, group-buying deals, visa and other travel-related information by its accessible, humanistic and avant-garde technology.

Qunar’s search scope covers over 700 data sources, 150,000 hotels, and 15,000 domestic and international flight routes. Qunar also provides over 700 travel deals in more than 100 Chinese cities.

Qunar means “where to go” in Mandarin Chinese.