(CRI English)
Updated: 2007-09-30 10:18

The National Day holiday is both an occasion for celebrating the birth of the country and a time for people to travel. However, crowds of people have always tend to push up hotel prices.

During this year's golden week, as far as hotel prices are concerned, will there be any relief for weary travelers?

The week long National holiday starts next Monday. It's a golden chance for Chinese to spend and a week for hotels, and retailers to receive. Last year, 150 million people travelled during the National Day holiday. Zhang Wei works for online travel service Ctrip.com. He says hotels in some popular tourists city such as Sanya, Hangzhou, Guilin, and Xiamen will raise their rates during the upcoming Golden Week. And a growing number of tourists will drive up the demand for budget hotels.

"Take Guilin as an example, the price for five star and four star hotels grew by 25 percent and 50 percent respectively, while the three star hotels have seen the largest price increase of 80 percent as they are the main choices for ordinary people."

But other cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou will see prices drop in five star hotels because of an expected reduction in business. During peak season, the average room price at a Beijing Prime Hotel is 800 to 900 yuan (US$106.5 to 119.8). During the national holiday, the price will drop 200 yuan. Li Siwei is in charge of the marking for the hotel.

"In the golden week, our target clients are domestic tourists from other provinces, so we have to adjust the prices according to their budgets."

The Shanghai Marriott Hotel Hongqiao normally charges 1700 to 1800 yuan not including service fees, but during the upcoming holiday, the price drops to 800 yuan. Rita is director of revenue management from Shanghai Marriott and she too says the drop in prices is all about the type of guests they recieve.

"The peak season for hotels in Shanghai is contrary to other tourist cities. Various business conferences and activities are the main reason for the price hikes, but the lack of these events during the holiday will drag down the prices."

However, after the National Holiday, it's back to business as usual for hotels in cities like Shanghai. The arrival of Formula One racing next month means the price of high-end hotels there will return to their original prices, if not more. High end events in other big cities in China will undoubtedly mean the same.