Home>News Center>China
       
 

May Day Europe trip still out of reach
By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-23 00:52

People may be itching to go sightseeing in Europe during the "Golden Week" of the May Day holiday, but their enthusiasm may be dampened by the simple fact that tour companies still don't have the green light to organize the trips.

The National Tourism Administration approved destination status agreements with 13 European countries earlier this year to simplify the application process for tourism visas.

At the same time, Several Beijing-based travel agencies are eager for the first tour group to European Union (EU) countries in the coming summer.

However, May Day holiday tours to Europe may be out of reach now, because travel agencies are still waiting for permission for tour packages from the administration, said Dun Jidong, marketing director of the Overseas Travel Department with China Travel Service.

"It takes at least a month for a travel agency to organize a foreign destination tour," Dun said Monday.

"The May Day tour package booking peak period will come next week and tour group arrangements need to be set by mid-April," Dun said.

Although travel agency employees are busy editing and revising promotional pamphlets about EU tour routes, starting dates are unknown.

China had approved destination status agreements with 42 countries and regions, including 13 European countries, Dun said.

The country has recently seen a 30 per cent annual increase in outbound tours, he said.

Last year, there were 20 million outbound Chinese, an increase of 21.8 per cent over the previous year, according to administration statistics.

By the end of last year, the number of Chinese travel agencies qualified to offer outbound tourism packages reached 528. There were less than 70 in 1999.

Holiday tourism in China is a big money maker, as was proved in recent years by "Golden Week" holidays such as May Day and National Day holidays.

However, unmanageable crowds and the poor service prevalent at some tourist spots and travel agencies have created some problems for the sector.

The National Holiday Affairs Office received more than 6,960 customer complaints last year, most of which reflected problems with bad service.

About 90 per cent of the complaints were related to domestic tourism companies, 9 per cent involved outbound travel and the rest are related to inbound travel.

Illegal practices such as the hiring of so-called "black guides" or guides without the certification who use non-existent contracts can still be found in the tourism industry, officials with the National Tourism Administration said.

False advertising is another problem, officials said.

Some complaints show some guides randomly cut down the number of scenic spots in tours and add more shopping stops to earn higher commissions, the administration's latest complaint report said.

A mainland tourist to Hong Kong complained that he was incited by a local guide to buy an expensive but low-quality home electronic appliance, the report said.

Hong Kong received 15.5 million visitors in 2003, the second highest on record, thanks to a surge in mainland visitors.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board forecasts that more than 20 million visitors will come to the city this year, a 30 per cent increase over last year.

More than 1.3 million new mainland visitors visited Hong Kong since the launch of the individual visit scheme last year.

The scheme, which allows mainland tourists from 14 cities to visit Hong Kong without joining group tours, will be extended to cover the whole of Guangdong Province by May this year. In other words, some 100 million mainlanders will be eligible to visit Hong Kong under the scheme.

 
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Credit consumption innovates way of life in Shanghai

 

   
 

Taiwan case could spur court intervention

 

   
 

May Day Europe trip still out of reach

 

   
 

Nation pins hopes on oil project with Russia

 

   
 

Government puts lid on overheating industries

 

   
 

Yassin buried; Hamas pledges retaliation

 

   
  Shanghai targets `green' power plan
   
  A litre here, a litre there, is water saved
   
  Government puts lid on overheating industries
   
  Oil price hike unlikely to force up airfares
   
  Teens in Shenzhen to get sex education
   
  `Little' scientists pitch best innovations
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Tourists get global options for travelling
   
Flights between China, Europe increase
   
Green light given, next stop: Europe
   
Sino-European relations enter new era
  News Talk  
  Are the Chen-Lu shootings a fabricated hoax or an amateurish bungling  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 人人爽人人爽人人片a免费| 日韩制服丝袜在线观看| 国产chinese91在线| 五月婷婷中文字幕| 国产高清av在线播放| 久久精品国产69国产精品亚洲| 精品久久久久久成人AV| 日本成人免费在线观看| 国产午夜手机精彩视频| 五月婷婷俺也去开心| 国产精品永久在线观看| 久久久精品久久久久三级| 男人天堂网www| 嗯嗯在线观看免费播放| 全黄大全大色全免费大片| 夜间禁用10大b站| 久久久精品2019中文字幕2020 | 一个人看的www日本高清视频| 精品国产一区二区三区久久影院| 国产超碰人人模人人爽人人喊| 一个人看的www在线免费视频| 手机在线观看视频你懂的| 久久亚洲av无码精品色午夜| 日韩在线观看一区二区三区| 亚洲va在线∨a天堂va欧美va| 精品人妻系列无码人妻漫画| 国产www视频| 被强到爽的邻居人妻完整版| 国产国产人精品视频69| 91精品福利视频| 日产乱码一卡二卡三免费| 久久精品国产亚洲av麻豆| 最新国产精品自在线观看| 亚洲美女视频网站| 男人边吃奶边爱边做视频刺激| 国产乱子影视频上线免费观看| 黑人精品videos亚洲人| 大伊香蕉在线观看视频wap| 久久久久无码精品国产H动漫| 欧美综合一区二区三区| 啦啦啦手机完整免费高清观看|