As Spring Festival golden week draws near, Beijing residents are
considering some new overseas destinations being promoted at the
Beijing International Tourism Consultation Exhibition, which opened
Friday.
Chinese tourists may now visit Sri Lanka, South Africa, Malta, Viet
Nam and Egypt.
"This exhibition is helping me consider more thoroughly before
deciding on a winter holiday in one of the 27 appointed foreign
tourist destination countries," said Wang Yan, a 33-year-old
Beijing resident.
Organized by the Beijing Municipal Tourism Administration, the
three-day exhibition involves scores of tourism authorities and
travel agencies.
"We are expecting more Chinese tourists since Sri Lanka became the
latest country open to Chinese tourists earlier this month,
together with South Africa," said Majintha Jayesinghe, second
secretary of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Beijing.
Jayesinghe also mentioned that Chinese people may feel at home in
his country because there are 1,000 Chinese restaurants.
Reports have said that direct flights connecting cities in China
and Sri Lanka may start running in the near future if Sri Lanka
experiences a Chinese-tourist boom. Right now, Chinese travelers
must change flights in Hong Kong or Bangkok to get to Sri
Lanka.
Meanwhile, local newspapers in East China's Shanghai and in
Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, reported
that residents of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are expected to
achieve access to European Union countries next year.
Although Germany was appointed a tourist destination last year,
travel agencies still can not organize tour groups to this European
country because of restrictive policies related to the 1985
Schengen Agreement and the 1990 Schengen Convention. The two govern
the movement of goods, capital, services and people within
Europe.
The number of Chinese citizens traveling abroad is predicted to
reach 100 million by 2020, making it the fourth largest overseas
tourism market in the world.
(China Daily November 24, 2002)