South China's Guangdong Province will resume organizing tourist
groups to neighboring Hong Kong and Macao next month after a
SARS-enforced break of five weeks. And Beijing is preparing.
The province has also lifted a ban on local residents traveling to
Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, according to Zheng Tongyang,
director of Guangdong Tourism Bureau.
"It is the right time to resume travel to Hong Kong as the World
Health Organization (WHO) withdrew its travel-limit advisory on
both Guangdong and Hong Kong last week,'' Zheng said on Friday.
Zheng predicted there will be a new boom in overseas travel over
the summer holiday period in July and August.
Guangdong accounted for 80 percent of mainlanders visiting Hong
Kong in previous years and also a large percentage of mainland
people traveling to other nations and regions, Zheng said.
Many local travel agencies were already prepared to restart their
Hong Kong and Macao travel business when SARS was brought under
control in the middle of May.
Guangzhou Travel Corporation has reported that more than 13,000
local residents have registered to tour Hong Kong and Macao.
Guangzhou Railway Travel Agency has introduced preferential prices
to attract more tourists.
The cost of traveling in Hong Kong and Macao has fallen by at least
20 percent in comparison with the same period last year.
The bureau issued a ban on touring Hong Kong and Macao at the end
of April because of the outbreak of SARS. This travel ban has
seriously affected Guangdong's travel industry, Zheng said.
Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Public Security has released a list
of requirements that local residents must fulfill before visiting
Hong Kong and Macao for business and private purposes.
All companies, including State-owned enterprises and private firms,
can now apply for multi-journey travel documents for their staff to
visit Hong Kong and Macao.
And local residents can also apply for individual multi-journey
permits to Hong Kong and Macao for visiting relatives, employment
and studies starting next month.
Moreover, the China National Tourism Administration on Thursday
lifted the restriction on traveling to Singapore, Malaysia and
Thailand.
It
will gradually receive foreign tourists from July in areas across
the country. But tours will not include those provinces with travel
warnings issued by WHO.
Beijing, which has been badly hit by SARS, has drawn up
comprehensive plans to boost its tourist industry by promoting new
travel products and calling for co-operation with foreign
cities.
A
timetable has been drawn up for the resumption of the capital's
tourism.
Tour groups will prepare for the resumption of tourism in Beijing
from now until July 10 with the following 80 days seen as the
period for a rebound. Travel promotions will be targeted at the
overseas market.
(China Daily May 31, 2003)