The upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival mini-holiday and the National Day long holiday are just around the corner. Chinese people are both looking forward to and worried about traveling during these breaks: they look forward to the best travel period of the year finally arriving; they worry that everywhere they go will be packed with people, with no scenery to be seen, and any attempt to take souvenir photos at scenic spots will end up looking like a "Chinese family portrait." Fortunately, new tourism policies have brought a "timely rain," giving hope to all citizens and industry professionals of enjoying "happy travel" in the near future.
On August 21, the Chinese Government website published the "Several Opinions of the State Council on Promoting the Reform and Development of Tourism," marking the first time in five years that the national-level positioning of the tourism industry has been clearly defined. The document outlines specific measures in five areas: paid leave systems, infrastructure construction, fiscal and financial support, land use policies, and talent cultivation. Among these, it explicitly includes implementing a paid annual leave system within the scope of labor supervision, allows higher education institutions to adjust winter and summer vacation schedules according to actual conditions, and permits primary and secondary schools to schedule spring breaks—creating favorable conditions for employees to take paid annual leave.
Interpreting the "Opinions," we find that the two most crucial pieces of information for ordinary travelers are "including the paid annual leave system in labor supervision" and "allowing primary and secondary schools to arrange spring breaks."
For a long time, although "paid annual leave" has been included in the relevant provisions of the Labor Contract Law, and the "Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees" (State Council Decree No. 514), implemented on January 1, 2008, clearly specify corresponding paid leave days ranging from 5 to 10 to 15 based on cumulative work experience, the lack of inclusion of the paid leave system in labor supervision has led companies to remain ambiguous about granting such leave. Employees who wish to take "paid leave" often "dare not even ask." The release of these "Opinions" heralds the official arrival of the "paid leave" era for Chinese citizens.
Meanwhile, if the long-established "spring break for primary and secondary school students" system in Europe and America were to be truly implemented in China, it would fully complement the paid leave of parents, greatly increasing opportunities for family travel together.
Once these two measures, which can immediately bring travel convenience to Chinese people, are put into practice, they will not only rapidly promote the development of domestic leisure and vacation tourism but also serve as a significant incentive for outbound travel. Ms. Liao Meimei, a senior travel planning consultant at "Le Wan Australia" (http://www.lewanau.com), a website dedicated to independent travel in Australia and New Zealand, commented: "For outbound travel, such as to Australia, destinations like Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, and the Gold Coast are typically places where most tourists want to ‘cover everything in one trip.’ To fully and comfortably visit all four cities without the exhaustion of following a tour group, having about two weeks of free travel time is ideal. For a long time, due to the absence of paid annual leave, Chinese people could usually only manage to cobble together an 11- or 12-day holiday by using the limited Golden Week period and taking a few extra days off. Even if leave is approved, the excessive concentration of travel times leads to increased costs and difficulty in booking flights, hotels, tickets, and itinerary products, making the cost-effectiveness of travel less favorable compared to non-peak periods." Regarding the introduction of the "Opinions," Ms. Liao expressed her hopes: "I truly hope that the implementation of these 'Opinions' will, through the promotion of 'paid annual leave' and 'student spring breaks,' make it easier for more Chinese people to travel abroad and experience the joy of leisure travel—enjoying Australia, enjoying the world!"