Channel NewsAsia - 46 minutes
ago
SINGAPORE: The dates of public holidays in 2009 were released on
Thursday, and many of them fall on the start or the end of a
workweek.
With eight long weekends expected next year, travel agents are
predicting at least a 20 per cent increase in bookings.
Here is the list of public holidays in 2009:
New Year’s Day 1 January (Thursday)
Chinese New Year 26, 27 January (Monday, Tuesday)
Good Friday 10 April (Friday)
Labour Day 1 May (Friday)
Vesak Day 9 May (Saturday)
National Day 9 August (Sunday)
Hari Raya Puasa 20 September (Sunday)
Deepavali 15 November (Sunday)
Hari Raya Haji 27 November (Friday)
Christmas Day 25 December (Friday)
But even with all these long weekends, not everyone is
considering to head overseas.
Ng Kong Yeam, group executive chairman for Sino—American Tours
Corporation, said: "If the children are not in school, then the
husbands and wives will go and truly enjoy themselves. However,
whenever they have kids in school, they usually travel in June and
December."
Many travel agents, however, expect more Singaporeans to go
travel in 2009 as more people head for a short weekend holiday.
Last year, SA Tours had about 14,500 passengers jet off to
places such as Beijing and Tokyo in North Asia while more than
10,000 passengers took short breaks mainly to Southeast Asia. —
CNA/ac