Heating tourism in vacation

Heating tourism in vacation
The Mid-Autumn Festival(中秋节) and National Day holidays(国庆节) are approaching. This year, many people are choosing to combine [kəmˈbain](联合) the two when taking their annual leave(年假), to have plenty of time for traveling.

Many people can't wait to take advantage of(利用) the coming holiday for the Mid-autumn Festival and National Day. The most popular destination [ˌdestiˈneiʃən](目的地) is the Shanghai World Expo, which closes on October 31st.

One Guangdong resident said "I may go to the Expo because there might be fewer people."

In the eastern city of Nanjing, it's outbound [ˈautbaund](出外) tours. Many customers booked trips to Europe, Australia, America and Africa a month ago. The only openings left now are to Southeast Asia.

And the good news for travelers is that air ticket prices aren't soaring [ˈsɔ:riŋ](涨价).

Zhang Xiaoyan, Travel Agent of Nanjing said "It may due to the extended holiday, as the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day come together. Airlines(航空公司) believe it's a good time for discounts(折扣) to attract more customers."

Group tour prices are also down, though demand is up.

Zeng Yi, Travel Agent of Guangdong said "Prices for Sichuan, Yunnan and Xinjiang tours are down around 10 percent compared with the same period last year."

Analysts say people can take up to 16 days for this year's holiday, and that may be contributing to the tourism [ˈtʊərˌɪzəm](旅游业)boom [bu:m](增长).