City relaunches overseas travel
10/7/2003 16:58
Local travel agencies are allowed to relaunch overseas package tours,
the Shanghai Tourism Administrative Commission announced yesterday evening after
receiving the notice from the National Tourism Administration.
Air-carriers,
overseas tourism bureaus and travel agencies are joining hands together to
introduce a batch of travel itineraries in lower prices after the end of SARS to
boost travel market.
Air-carriers such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines
and Thailand Airlines have offered at least 50 percent off on airfares to travel
agencies.
The Thailand Tourism Administration kicked off a promotion
worldwide that tourists can pay for one hotel room priced between US$40 and
US$140 per night and get one more room free.
The Singapore Tourism
Administration offered a 47-day promotion since June, with 30-70 percent of
discounts provided in shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and duty-free shops.
The Shanghai China International Travel Service, Shanghai China Travel
Service Group and Shanghai China Youth Travel Service currently receive many
calls every day to consult the overseas travel affairs, with short-distance and
cheaper tours to Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore most favored by students and
teachers who are currently enjoying their summer vacation.
Tours to Hong
Kong and Macau will be the first to kick off in mid July, followed by tours to
Southeast Asian countries, European, US and Australia, said an industry
analyst.
Local travel agencies are required to adopt measures to prevent from
SARS epidemic and prepare for emergencies, according to the Shanghai Tourism
Administrative Commission.
According to the notice from the National Tourism
Administration, overseas travel are relaunched to 22 countries, including
Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippine, Indonesia, Vietnam, Combodia,
Myanmar, Brunei, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Malta, Turkey,
Egypt, South Africa, Germany, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and India.
Among
the 22 countries, Vietnam still suspends issuing tourism visa to Chinese
travelers, Brunei asks Chinese tourists to show their health certification when
handling visa affairs, and Maldives requires tourists from the Guangdong
Province to stay at other nations not hit by SARS for more than ten days before
entering the nation.
All of the other 19 countries have lifted the
restriction for Chinese citizens to enter their nations.
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
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