National Tourism Administration (NTA) said Monday travel agencies should
be very cautious of arranging travel packages to Southeast Asia nations ravaged
by devastating earthquake and tsunami Sunday.
Currently, there are approximately 1,000 stranded Chinese tourists in Phuket
island of Thailand and Maldives, a NTA officialtold Xinhua earlier Monday.
The national administration has relayed the acute, detailed information about
tourists they had pooled from main such travel ports as Beijing, Shanghai and
southern Guangdong Province to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
relevant offices shortly after learning the quake rocked Southeast Asian
nations, the official noted.
Tourism administrations at all levels will work closely with these travel
agencies, the official said.
Moreover, the China International Travel Service (CITS) told Xinhua that the
tourists in their travel packages to Southeast Asia are all secure.
Monday's Beijing Daily say six leading travel agencies in the national
capital of Beijing reported their 300-strong tourists safe and sound in
Southeast Asian countries.
Yang Weihong, manager of Southeast Asia travel of China Travel International
(CTI) in Beijing, was quoted as saying that the agency is ready to cancel all
the travel packages to Southeast Asia nations, which are scheduled to set off
Wednesday, and to return all the fees collected to applicants for overseas
trips.