BEIJING, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Statistics published by the National Tourism Administration (NTA) on Sunday shows that during this May day holiday the number of 

Over 1 million people visit the Shenyang Int'l Horticultural Expo during the "Golden Week" holidays in May, 2006. (Xinhua Photo)

tourists received by 116 Chinese scenic spots grew 12.9 percent year on year, with ticket income rising 21.6 percent.

    The overall tourism revenue in 38 major Chinese cities during the seven-day holiday exceeded 20 billion yuan (2.5 billion U.S. dollars), the NTA said.

    The seven-day holiday week has become a virtual opportunity forthe development of China's tourism market despite disputes about the rationality of the "Golden Week, " which has exerted great pressure on transportation, catering and hotel and tourism infrastructures, according to relevant experts.

    China now has three "Golden Week" holidays in the year -- Spring Festival, International Labor Day, and National Day. The new holiday scheme was set up by the Chinese government in 1999 to boost domestic demand, stimulate consumption, and restructure the economy.

    As the prolonged holidays turned out to be "golden" for the economy, they became known as "Golden Week".

    With the unbalanced development of China's economy, those " Golden Weeks" have offered great opportunities for economic restructuring and employment expansion in popular tourist destinations.

    During this May day holiday, a total of 19 tourists got killed in 11 accidents across the country, including a Dutch tourist. Enditem