Tourists to Europe must be happy to know that the day for them to travel on their own won't be that far, although only a part of the trip on their own currently.

The China Travel Service Head Office offered a seven-day package tour to Paris as of December 12, priced at 9,800 yuan (US$1,180). Tourists will live in Paris for five nights, and during the last two days of their trip, they are allowed to either travel with the group or on their own. In Beijing, it is the first travel itinerary to Europe, which allows tourists to travel a part of the trip on their own.

The European tourist market is gigantic, and with the increasing number of Chinese travelers, domestic travel agencies will develop more tour products to satisfy various requirements, said Dun Jidong, marketing director with the China Travel Service Head Office.

The Paris tour mainly targets those who have been to Europe and want more freedom on their trip, Dun said, adding that the tourists can spend a day drinking coffee and wandering around the streets there.

Before Europe was opened-up as a destination for Chinese tourists in September 1, the National Tourism Administration announced that travelers must join package tours to Europe, with self-organized tours not being allowed at the beginning.

"The seven-day tour to Paris is still under the management of the travel group. If tourists prefer to travel on their own in the last two days, they must inform the guide of their itineraries and places they would visit, with frequent contacts being guaranteed", Dun indicated, adding that they must return to their dwelling in the evening. "Therefore, we are not breaking the rule", he stressed.

(Shanghai Daily October 28, 2004)