Chinese tourists expected to travel to EU next year
10/11/2003 17:01
Thanks to the tourism memo signed between China and the European Union
(EU), Chinese tourists are expected to travel to Europe after the Spring
Festival next year, eastday.com reported today.
Although travel agencies are
still waiting for the go-ahead to organize package tours to go to EU countries,
many of them have already started to design their travel itineraries.
As the
2004 Olympic Games will be held in Greece, Greece is expected to become one of
the popular travel destinations for Chinese citizens next year.
The
Southeast Asian countries are the main travel destinations for Shanghai
tourists, but the tours to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand lost charm over the
past several years, said the spokesman with the Spring International Travel
Services.
Shanghai tourists are not interested in traveling to Germany, Malta
and Croatia, which have already opened to Chinese tourists, the spokesman
said.
The opening of the EU tourism market will offer more options and bring
many economic benefits for domestic travelers, he added. European countries such
as Italy and Austria planned to make direct flights to Shanghai next year, which
will save costs.
The Spring International Travel Services has begun to
contact French consulate to discuss the transportation issues.
The 10-day
tour to Europe will cost around 15,000 yuan (US$1,807).
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
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