Price war sparked on after-holiday tourism market
3/2/2004 17:24
With the chilly days and bird flu having a negative impact on the
local tourism market after the Spring Festival peak period, travel agencies in
Shanghai are offering unbelievable low prices to bail themselves out of plight,
the Youth Post reported today.
Tours to Hong Kong only cost 999 yuan (US$120)
after the holiday, with Hainan tours priced only at 888 yuan, hitting record
lows.
Large airfare discounts offered by the Dragonair and China Eastern
Airlines are cited as the main reason for local travel agencies to offer such
low prices on Hong Kong tours, said an industry analyst.
The Shanghai Dazhong
International Travel Service Co even offered weekend tours to Hong Kong for only
950 yuan.
However, besides the 999 yuan, tourists have to pay 381 yuan for
added taxes of the Hong Kong airport plus various kinds of entrance tickets at
scenic spots, so the actually costs to Hong Kong should be at least 1,380 yuan,
the analyst pointed out.
Compared with high-priced tours to Hong Kong, the
special-offer ones require growing expenses paid by tourists themselves and a
larger proportion of time period for shopping, he stressed, adding that such
tours have become a hit for shopping buffs.
More than 400 travelers have
signed up for such tours with the Shanghai China International Travel Service,
and from February 5, the first batch of the cheaper tours will set off.
"We
offered luxurious tours to Hong Kong, priced at 1,950 yuan, only 300-400 yuan
more than those cheaper ones, but tourists can enjoy living in five-star hotels
for three nights," said Zhang Huizhu, manager with the Shanghai China
International Travel Service (SCITS).
According to the SCITS, tours to New
Zealand currently only costs 13,000 yuan, down 3,000 yuan compared with the
Spring Festival holiday and the six-day tours to Tokyo and Osaka are priced only
at 8,900 yuan, down more than 1,000 yuan from usual.
The ten-day tours to
Lhasa and Nepal only cost 9,800 yuan, according to the Spring International
Travel Services.
With most students beginning their new semester soon, tours
to Hainan will receive cold shoulders, so many local travel agencies priced
their Hainan tours by air only at 888 yuan.
Business for domestic tours is
currently predicted to decline by 30 percent from the same period last
year.
Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news
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