Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news

Long-distance overseas tour prices are showing an average increase of only 10-15 percent for the upcoming May Day holiday, with European tours proving very popular in the city, today's Youth Post reported.
Differing from the price hikes in the previous golden week holidays, the prices for the long-distance tours abroad in the May holiday have only increased slightly, with some tours even seeing price drops, said a spokesman with the Spring International Travel Service Co.
The eight-day tour to South Africa is priced at 13,500 - 14,400 yuan (US$1,626-US$1,735) for the May Day holiday, only about 1,000 yuan higher than normal. The eight-day tour to Italy and Greece is just 13,500 yuan, less than the 15,300 yuan March price.
Many local travel agencies have canceled multi-nation tours of ten or 15 European countries, but instead have offered quality itineraries to no more than four European countries, the spokesman said, adding that for mid and high-end tourist packages there will not be large price differences between peak and off-peak times.
Among the long-distance overseas tours, European tours have proven to be a hit for the weeklong May holiday, with 90 percent of quotas filled to date. Tours to Australia have also aroused great interest, with 60 percent already booked.
The devastating earthquake in Indonesia is likely to cut the number of tourists to South East Asian countries by 20-30 percent during the May Day holiday, according to local travel agencies.