Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai's residents are showing a strong interest in overseas-bound trips for the upcoming Spring Festival in mid February, despite sharp price surges of up to nearly 50 percent during the year’s peak travel period, today's Laodong Daily reported.
The price of a 9-day trip to Australia departing around February 18 (this year's Spring Festival) will increase by 4,000 yuan (US$513) per person and that for a 12-day trip to Australia and New Zealand will jump by 6,000 yuan, according to local travel agencies. Prices for trips to Europe and Africa will increase by 2,000 yuan respectively.
The surging prices haven't dampened local residents' zeal for exotic traveling experiences, particularly for such distant destinations as Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Europe.
A Laodong Daily report cited local tourism agencies as saying nearly 70 percent of trips to Australia have been booked and 50 percent of tours to Europe are already sold out. However, tours to Southeast Asia remain flat.
Compared with short trips, longer trips are more customized and attractive, tourism industry insiders analyzed.
Products such as an "8-day shopping-themed trip to Paris and Milan" and an "8-day Premier-league-theme trip to Britain" are selling fast, they added.