The Chinese
National Tourism Administration issued a notice over the
weekend urging travel agencies to be more cautious when organizing
tours to destinations where Chinese have been attacked.
In recent months, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs received reports of robbery and theft cases against
Chinese tourists, in countries such as Malaysia, Switzerland,
Russia and South Africa. It is believed that Chinese tourists are
targeted because they tend to carry a lot of cash on them, not
being accustomed to using credit cards or travelers' checks.
"Travel agencies should not arrange tours to these areas and
should adjust their travel routes if time permits," the notice
read.
It also advises travel agencies to give tourists some basic
knowledge on how to guard against robbery and theft and what to do
in an emergency situation such as a bombing or other terror
attack.
The administration also ordered tourism authorities at all
levels to set up a mechanism to sort out and publish safety
information about the various foreign destinations.
At present, about 100 foreign countries are open to Chinese
tourists. In 2004, a total number of 29 million person-times from
the mainland traveled overseas, according to statistics from the
China National Tourism Administration. One person-time is one round
trip made by one person in one year. ?
According to the China International Travel Service (CITS) office in Beijing,
the terror attacks in Britain and Egypt have reduced tourism to
these countries.
"We had to cancel several group tours to the Mediterranean
recently," said an employee at the office who gave only a surname,
Zheng. "Groups setting out in October were also severely
affected."
However, the World Tourism Organization predicted the recent
attacks would have only a short-lived effect on tourism as people
come to accept higher levels of uncertainty than before.
Li Wei, director of the Centre for Counter-terrorism Studies of
the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said
tourists should learn self-defense skills and be as alert as
possible at all times.
Li suggested that people traveling to foreign countries should
not go to crowded places and take useful contact information, such
as the phone numbers of local Chinese embassies, with them.
Li also advised people who plan to visit foreign countries to
search for travel safety tips on the website of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
(China Daily August 23, 2005)