China travel warming up

CAISSA Touristic (Group) is one of the biggest German travel agencies dealing with travel to China. When talking about the Beijing Olympics, the Group's chairman Chen Mang said the Olympic is just like a catalyst which will bring China's development opportunities to an all-time high; and warming travel to China will not cool down after the Olympics.

Chen said the Beijing Olympics would urge lots of people who do not know China very well to travel in China; and they would summarily know China through routine travel. Recently, CAISSA has organized a "sales agent group" with airline companies and tourism retailers: those working in the front lines selling Chinese travel packages can enjoy traveling to China themselves. For those who have been to China and know something about Chinese culture, this is a great chance for them to go to China again. They will not only visit the Olympic stadiums, but will also participate in a series of travel programs.

Chen is much more confident about travel to China after the Beijing Olympic.

Flights Begin From China to Taiwan

The first nonstop, cross-strait weekend flights from China landed in Taiwan on Friday morning, in the latest breakthrough in cross-strait relations that are rapidly warming under the island’s new president, Ma Ying-jeou.

The first batch of flights was expected to carry 662 Chinese tourists on package tours from five cities on the mainland, but that number is expected to expand gradually to as many as 3,000 tourists per day.

This is the first time that “ordinary” Chinese citizens will be allowed to visit Taiwan as tourists. Before, only Chinese citizens who were permanent residents of a foreign country, or those with special permission for business or cultural exchanges, could visit the island.

China’s Visa Policy Threatens Olympics Tourism

With the Beijing Olympics less than two months away, hotel operators, travel agencies, and foreign businessmen say new Chinese visa restrictions are proving bad for business, casting a pall over Beijing during what was supposed to be a busy and jubilant tourist season leading up to the Olympic Games.

Chinese authorities acknowledged putting new visa restrictions in place in May — after foreign embassies reported fewer visas being granted and tighter, sometimes seemingly arbitrary, restrictions. The government did not release guidelines detailing the changes in policy; it often does not. But a foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said in May that they would be temporary.

On Monday, Hu Bin, a visa official at the foreign ministry, said the ministry had no statistics on the number of visa denials, but that the new policies were put in place for “security considerations.”

Student travel industry heats up

Summer is bringing more than housing sales. It's also peak travel season for students and families who take advantage of the break in the school year. And travel agents have been taking advantage of the upcoming travel boom, with new tours on offer.

This travel agency is selling several 2- or 3-day tours to destinations like Beijing, Hebei and Shandong Province. These cheaper tours have been specially designed for high school graduates.

Another trip, a 5-day tour to Hainan, costs about 2 thousand yuan, ten percent cheaper than last year.