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Holiday clarity needed

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-27 07:40

With only about one month before the May Day holidays, the lack of agreement between the central government and some of the local governments on how long the holidays will be is frustrating.

Though overcrowded "golden weeks" are not necessarily the right way to spur domestic consumption, uncertainty surrounding holiday schedules is a major headache for anyone trying to make plans.

It was only on Wednesday that Guangdong's provincial government announced its own plan to revive the May Day golden week holiday. According to the pilot program, local residents will enjoy a weeklong vacation, including two days of paid leave, instead of a national holiday from May 1 to 3.

The belated announcement leaves those with itchy feet little time to plan their schedules.

Yet, just one day later, the central government issued a notice demanding strict implementation of the holiday arrangements it announced at the end of last year.

That means people will enjoy just three days for the national May Day break.

So should would-be tourists in Guangdong province cancel their weeklong travel plans now?

Confusingly, it remains unclear whether the central government intends to rain on Guangdong experiement. While warning local governments not to change the national holiday arrangements without authorization, the central government also suggested employers may arrange paid leave according to their own wishes.

There are indeed holes in the holiday plan made by the Guangdong provincial government. Besides the feasibi-lity for private-sector workers to take paid time-off at a time when most enterprises are struggling with the global downturn, it seems that the local government has gone too far demanding State-funded sectors give employees paid leave on two specific days.

Another thing that needs to be clarified is whether Guangdong will be the only province to get a green light to extend the May Day holiday from three days to a week.

If that's the case, other cities and provinces like Chongqing, Hunan, Henan and Hangzhou, which are also considering resuming the week-long holiday, need to know why they're being denied.

If Guangdong is also denied, its travelers may rush to cancel bookings for hotels and airlines they've already made.

What a pity it will be for travel agencies that have made advanced bookings for those banking on the return of a "golden week".

(China Daily 03/27/2009 page8)