A couple of tourists drove their private cars to visit the Simingshan Scenic Spot in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

"For so many years, this Spring Festival has been the one with the most booming travel market," that's the remarks of all travel agencies in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, on the past seven-day holiday.

According to statistics released by Ningbo Statistical Bureau, the city received a total of 831,000 tourists during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday ending on Jan. 28, up 5.53 percent from the same period last year.

The tourism income from the seven-day holiday rose 5.53 percent year-on-year to total 573 million yuan(US$69.3 million) and thirty-three major scenic spots in the city attracted 765,800 visitors during the holiday, the statistics indicate.

More and more people are choosing to arrange their holiday travel by themselves rather than turn to various travel agencies as they did previously.

This can be demonstrated by the increase in the number of people who were traveling by driving their private cars or to seeking self-help travel programs.

According to Ningbo Statistical Bureau, private cars with such registration destination as Beijing, Anhui, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai can be seen everywhere at major scenic spots in the city during the festival.

(Zhejiang Online January 30, 2004)