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Tourism in HK, Macau still
suffering
By Sam Ng
HONG KONG
- The tourist industry in south China's Guangdong
province struggled to survive last month because of the
outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
And now, with the lifting of the travel advisory against
Hong Kong and Guangdong by the World Health Organization
(WHO), many travel agencies in Guangzhou, the provincial
capital, have become busy restoring inbound travel as
well as outbound travel to Hong Kong and
Macau.
While travel within the province turned
hot, hindrances on domestic-organized travel to the two
neighboring special administrative regions were still in
place. The biggest worry is that the lifting of the ban
on travel by Guangdong may add pressure to the SARS
containment work in Hong Kong and Macau.
Guangdong is mainland China's biggest province
for tourism. For many years, the province has been the
top nationwide in terms of the number of traveler
entries, total travel revenues and foreign-currency
income via tourism. However, the issuance of a travel
warning on Guangdong by the WHO on April 2 pummeled the
province's tourist industry, which has been stagnant
since the end of April, with many travel agencies
suspending or even stopping operation.
According
to statistics, the province's foreign-currency income
from the tourist sector in April was US$100 million, a
decrease of 74 percent compared with former years. Its
total revenue from the industry was $325 million, down
by 68 percent. Operation results from travel to Hong
Kong and Macau that represent 70-80 percent of the
province's total outbound business suffered a loss of
more than $500 million in the first five months of this
year. The province's travel service was in effect frozen
in May when the national travel ban order went into
effect. As a result, turnover of high-end hotels within
the province plummeted by more than 80 percent in
comparison with that of last year and revenue of tourist
attractions also shrank by over 70 percent.
Industry sources in Guangzhou describe the
removal of the travel advisory on Hong Kong and
Guangdong by the WHO as "a sweet shower after a long
drought". Most of the province's travel agencies have
spared no effort in the struggle to resume business and
have launched a series of discounted tours and
promotions such as 38 yuan (less than $5) for a one-day
tour of Guangzhou. In order to attract customers, the
China Travel Service of Guangdong even came up with a
300-yuan package for daily tours to Hong Kong and Macau
with visa charges, transportation and one night's hotel
accommodation all included. However, since the epidemic
has not totally disappeared, there are still many
limitations on organizing tours to the two destinations.
Apart from suggesting that customers buy SARS
insurance and sign travel contracts, travel agencies are
also required to keep files of tourists' personal
information and a detailed trip agenda in addition to
registering their health condition when they sign up.
Those whose body temperature is higher than 37.3 degrees
Celsius are not allowed to travel and tourists whose
temperature is above the acceptable level during their
travels will be quarantined immediately. Once a
suspected or confirmed SARS case is discovered, the
victim will be sent as soon as possible to a designated
hospital for treatment.
According to previous
regulations, travelers from other provinces and cities
can attend the tour to Hong Kong and Macau organized by
any one of the 99 travel agencies within Guangdong as
long as they hold a visa for the two territories.
However, in order to prevent new import or export of
SARS, the Guangdong Tourist Bureau has announced that
local agencies are temporarily prohibited from
organizing tours for non-Guangdong mainlanders to Hong
Kong and Macau as of June 1, when travel to the two
territories resumed. Travel agencies will also carry
background investigations on local residents who plan to
travel to Hong Kong, including information such as
whether they have contact history with SARS patients or
have any relatives or families infected by the virus.
Many potential customers couldn't be bothered to
accommodate such a procedure and canceled their travel
schedules in the end.
By next month most
provinces, except those with WHO travel advisories, will
in principle reopen to foreign tourist groups. But their
travel routes will bypass places under travel
advisories. It is believed that the tourist industry in
some cities could pick up by 20-30 percent this month
and continue improving through July and August. If the
situation across the country is under effective control,
the industry is expected to recover fully during the
week-long national holiday for China's National Day,
which occurs on October 1.
(Copyright 2003 Asia
Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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