As people begin planning their summer vacations, tourism is about to hit its peak period. To help prime the industry, the Beijing International Tourism Expo was held recently and plenty of people took advantage of the event's special travel fares.

Travel agencies all presented their promotional specials to attract more customers. Prices ranged from hundreds to thousands of yuan. Many customers crowded at the front of the travel agencies' exhibition booths, hoping to get the best deal.

Besides some deep discounts, travel agencies thought of many interesting ways to attract customers, such as answer a questions to win a gift, or auctions starting at one yuan.

Many travel agencies said they were pleased with the turnout at the Tourism Expo and had high hopes for a profitable tourist season.