With the emergence of more traveling alternatives such as road trips and online travel clubs, traditional package tours have lost their popularity for the coming golden holiday week.

This year, travel agencies cannot wear a smile as usual before the coming long holidays. Tour fees during the previous golden holidays normally saw an increase by a margin of about 20 percent.

However, this year has seen a drop instead of a hike. The price of more than half of domestic tours has been reduced to within 3,000 yuan (US$365), with the price of some tours dropping as low as 1,000 yuan.

For instance, a five-day tour to Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong, Chengdu and Chongqing is only 2,480 yuan.

While most people expect a dramatic increase in foreign trips during the holidays, travel agencies have reported different news.

This year, overseas package tours have not been able to generate as much popular interest as usual.

Affected by the tsunami and earthquake earlier this year, Southeast Asian tours,traditional favorites, have seen the most dramatic decrease in travelers.

"Having experienced more than 10 golden holidays, people no longer insist on traveling during peak times," said Shi Peirui at the overseas travel department of China Youth Travel Service.

Shi explained a general principle of the three golden holiday weeks in a year.

Package tours, particularly expensive overseas trips, reach a high during the Spring Festival holidays and then the National Day holidays, whereas the May Day holidays usually hold less appeal for tourists, as consumer spending tends to diminish after the Spring Festival, when it is at its peak.

Many avid tourists have found alternative means of travel. As more and more Chinese citizens have automobiles, road trips have gained in popularity.

By driving their own cars, holidaymakers can spend more time with their friends and family members and set their own schedule instead of following a package tour itinerary.

Among trendy urban youngsters, it is becoming more popular to join online travel clubs. With a common interest in embarking on exciting journeys, many netizens organize tour teams and set itineraries for themselves online.

"The package tour schedules often fail to arouse our interest, so we prefer road trips, to which we can add more innovative touches," said Nicole Yang, an employee at a foreign bank in Shenzhen.

(Shenzhen Daily April 22, 2005)