BEIJING, Sept. 30 -- Price hikes and heavy traffic at popular tourism destinations are deterring more people in Shenzhen from traveling during the weeklong National Day holiday, which starts Monday.

    Statistics from the municipal holiday administration office showed that the number of people who have signed up for domestic package tours has dropped by 7.26 percent compared to the same period last year, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday, adding that around 58,800 people had signed up for domestic package tours as of Wednesday.

    However, flight tickets to popular domestic tourism destinations such as Sanya, Guilin, Chengdu, Kunming and Lijiang were in high demand, with 90 percent of the tickets leaving Shenzhen on Sunday and Monday sold.

    More people are choosing not to join tour groups organized by travel agencies for a more flexible time schedule.

    "Traveling with an organized group during such a busy week is really tiring as the schedule is fixed in advance, which usually means a number of compromises. It's not easy to travel with a large group as different people have different ideas," said a woman who declined to give her name. She is traveling to Yunnan on Sunday.

    "Travel groups usually go to the same tourist spots which are usually packed. But if I travel on my own or with some friends who share the same idea, we will be able to avoid the crowds by going to less touristy places, which are just as beautiful," the woman said.

    Many Shenzheners are also traveling back to their hometown for the holiday, the office was quoted as saying.

    Rail tickets to Xi'an, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hefei and Changsha on Sunday have all sold out.

    The office, which operates during the three Golden Week holidays to monitor tour package quality and handle complaints, forecasts more than 55,000 people will visit Shenzhen on package tours during the holiday, around the same number as last year.     

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily)