As early as 2007, Tsinghua University professor Cai Jiming proposed to cancel the May Day Golden Week, which sparked widespread discussion. Cai Jiming believes that the Golden Week has a limited effect on the economy, but will cause "big ups and downs" to the tourism industry, and suggests that on the basis of the implementation of paid leave, the Golden Week holiday will be split into traditional festivals.
This suggestion was abused by many netizens, and Cai Jiming was also under great pressure. In hindsight, Cai Jiming's suggestion is worth pondering.
The origin of Golden Week illustrates the special era in which it was established
In 1999, when the mainland was facing the impact of the Asian financial crisis, in order to stimulate domestic consumption, the government set up the May Day and November Golden Weeks to stimulate tourism through holidays. This was a stopgap measure in response to the exceptional situation from the very beginning.
With the development of the times and the change of the environment, it is necessary to re-evaluate the effect of Golden Week. Cai Jiming's analysis of the Golden Week's limited role in stimulating the tourism industry and his proposal to cancel the Golden Week also have a practical basis.
It should be noted that the establishment of Golden Week was based on the special environment at that time, which emphasized the use of tourism to drive economic growth and promote the expansion of domestic demand. After the reform and opening up, the mainland's economy has developed rapidly, and the tourism industry has also been greatly improved. In order to continue to expand domestic demand and stimulate the economy, setting up a golden week can play a positive role.
After more than a decade of development, the environment and conditions have changed, and the effect of Golden Week needs to be re-evaluated. Professor Cai Jiming analyzed the impact of Golden Week from a rational and scientific perspective and put forward suggestions for cancellation, which can prompt us to have a clearer understanding of the role of Golden Week in the new era, which will help promote the continuous improvement of the holiday system.
The negative impact of Golden Week on the tourism industry is worth paying attention to
Cai Jiming pointed out that the surge in the flow of people during the Golden Week has put great pressure on the scenic spot and greatly reduced the tourism experience. Indeed, during the Golden Week, the scenic spot is overcrowded, and tourists can only look at the scenery and sigh, but cannot enjoy it properly. Repeated "peaks" also damage scenic facilities. Reducing the concentration of travel and distributing the peak of tourism more evenly will be conducive to sustainable development.
During the Golden Week, all major scenic spots have different degrees of "liquidation", and overcrowding has seriously affected the tourism experience. This not only brings inconvenience to tourists, but also causes loss to scenic facilities. People queue up to rush forward, and they can only glimpse the scenery and leave, and the fun of travel is seriously reduced.
In order to cope with the short-term peak of passenger flow, the scenic spot also needs to increase equipment investment and maintenance expenditure. If the flow of people is dispersed to non-Golden Week hours, the scenic spot can better exert its capacity and provide a more comfortable visiting environment. Therefore, Professor Cai Jiming's proposal to reduce centralized travel is conducive to improving the quality of tourism and realizing the sustainable development of tourism.
Paid time off is more user-friendly and avoids Golden Week crowding
Cai Jiming suggested replacing Golden Week with paid leave. This suggestion takes into account the fact that it is more user-friendly to allow employees to arrange their own holidays and also avoids crowding during Golden Week. However, at present, except for state-owned enterprises and institutions, other industries have not popularized paid leave. Canceling Golden Week under this premise may cause further inconvenience. The paid leave system should be further improved and the scale of Golden Week should be gradually reduced.
The concentrated holiday during Golden Week has led to "super congestion" in the transportation system, and major tourist attractions are overcrowded. This kind of concentrated holiday brings a lot of inconvenience to people's travel. In contrast, paid leave is more humane, allowing employees to arrange their own holidays according to their own plans, avoiding the embarrassment of holiday crowding.
At present, only public institutions and state-owned enterprises in the mainland have popularized the paid leave system, and paid leave in other fields needs to be further promoted. If Golden Week is cancelled without the full implementation of paid leave, it may cause more employees to lose the opportunity to take a holiday break.
Therefore, improving the paid leave system and gradually reducing the scale of Golden Week is more in line with the principle of gradual and easier to operate.
The significance of Golden Week for family gatherings should be fully considered
Golden Week is an important time for migrant workers to get together with their families. Reform needs to start from the perspective of the people and pay attention to people's livelihood. A direct cancellation could affect the mood of the masses. Golden Week can be appropriately reserved, but measures can be taken to avoid excessive concentration of travel. Strengthen guidance and disperse to different regions and seasons.
As a large number of rural laborers go out to work, Golden Week is of great significance for their families. Sitting together for a long time and chatting about family life can enhance family affection. If Golden Week is canceled directly, many people will lose the rare opportunity to go home, which will inevitably have a certain impact.
Therefore, reform needs to think from the perspective of the people and pay attention to the possible negative impact. The social problems that may arise from the cancellation of Golden Week can be alleviated by appropriately retaining Golden Week and diversifying it to different regions and seasons.
It is necessary to proceed from the overall situation and the long term, and make steady progress
Cai Jiming's suggestion is worth considering, but it is difficult to cancel it directly. From an overall and long-term perspective, the Golden Week model should be gradually adjusted according to factors such as the implementation of paid leave and the needs of social governance, so as to make it a holiday system that truly benefits the people.
For example, on the basis of the more widespread paid leave, the scale of Golden Week will be gradually reduced. Consideration can be given to retaining part of the Golden Week arrangement, but significantly reducing the number of days off to avoid excessive concentration. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen guidance measures and encourage people to choose scattered vacation time and divert them to various regions and different seasons, so as to form a good trend of balanced development.
It is also necessary to strengthen the management of scenic spots, formulate response plans for the peak of personnel during the Golden Week, and ensure the operation and quality of visits to scenic spots. In short, it is necessary to optimize the holiday system and realize the double harvest of holidays to drive the economy and serve the people, which requires a gradual process. Neither can be conservative and stubborn, nor can it be rushed.
Only by conforming to the development needs of the times and making steady progress can the big ship of the holiday system slowly adjust its direction and finally achieve the goal of benefiting the people.
In the face of Professor Cai Jiming's proposal to cancel Golden Week, we need to adopt an open and rational attitude. There are indeed certain problems in Golden Week, which requires us to conduct in-depth analysis and gradually adjust and reform from the perspective of optimizing the holiday system. However, the outright cancellation of Golden Week may have unintended effects, and the reform process needs to be carried out cautiously.
We need to stand at the height of the overall situation and the long term, fully consider the factors from different angles, and gradually promote the reform of the holiday system, so that it can truly embody the scientific, humane and systematic nature, effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people, and promote balanced social and economic development.