Chinese travel agencies are expecting the policies following the
Sino-US memorandum of understanding (MOU) on tourism to facilitate
their business while being optimistic about the future market.
Chinese will be able to travel to the United States in groups on
tourist visas, according to the MOU signed on Tuesday. Currently,
the United States issues only business visas to Chinese.
"Everything will be in place only when we know how the MOU will
be implemented," said a manager with China International Travel
Service (CITS), China's biggest travel service, who refused to give
her name.
The CITS is preparing by contacting U.S. counterparts, she told
Xinhua Wednesday, "Some U.S. travel agencies are coming to
us as well."
Most travel agencies interviewed plan to promote tours linking
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., New York,
Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego and Hawaii, at an average cost of
25,000 yuan (3,351 US dollars) per person.
"Although very inviting, the U.S. tour will keep some potential
travelers away because of the tight visa interview procedure and
the comparatively high expense," said Liu Yanwen, manager of U.S.
section in China Travel Service (CTS), China's second largest
travel service.
The European Union does not require visa interviews for tourists
in groups. A tour covering 12 European countries costs about 16,000
yuan (2,162 U.S. dollars).
The transport cost in Europe was also lower than that in the
United States, Liu said.
"Many Chinese people are curious about America as they are
already familiar with it through Hollywood movies. So I am quite
optimistic about the U.S. travel market," she said.
Liu expected that the U.S. side would loosen the visa
requirements for Chinese tourists in groups.
The U.S. Department of Commerce forecast that the number of
Chinese tourists will reach 579,000 by 2011, up from 320,000 last
year, according to the China Daily report on Wednesday.
(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2007)
