Major travel agencies in Beijing suspend tours to U.S.

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Following the A/H1N1 Influenza outbreak, the China National Tourism Administration has issued travel warnings regarding travel to H1N1-affected areas including North America and Europe, although it has not yet (officially) suspended any of the tours affected. However, some travel agencies have suspended tours to the US out of careful consideration.

Huang Guoyue who works in the marketing department at China International Travel Service Head Office stated, “We have suspended group tours to the US after the outbreak of the epidemic there.”

Since the end of April, Beijing Shenzhou International Travel Service Group has received a succession of cancellation requests from tour groups. It has currently halted most of its tour groups to the US. Kanghui Travel Service has cancelled 80 percent of its overseas tour plans.

“If tourists insist on going, we will carry out contracts as usual,” an official at Hu Yuan International Travel told reporters. The travel agency will continue to send tour groups if tourists expressed a strong desire to continue with their trip without being solicited or pestered, and if there are enough people to form a group. The agency will, however, remind tourists of epidemic prevention measures.

Many travel agencies have also expressed concern over inbound tourism to China. “Inbound tourism is already very low due to the economic crisis, and the epidemic situation will undoubtedly make things worse,” said Guo Huo, official at Beijing Maitu International Travel Services.

Flights from Beijing to the US to continue as normal. By 5 pm on May 11, flights scheduled to the US were taking off and landing as normal at Beijing Capital International Airport. People came and left via the dining area of the airport and the operation went smoothly.

The media and publicity department at Beijing Capital International Airport said that the airport has not received any instruction for coping with the increased-level epidemic. At present, epidemic prevention and quarantine work at the airport is being carried out as before.

At 12:35 pm on May 11, in the arrivals area for international passengers and those from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan at Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport, passengers from flight CA 160 from Nagoya, Japan to Beijing were going through immigration clearance. Ms Liu and many other passengers told the reporters that a third of the passengers on CA 160 flight wore facemasks during the entire flight.

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Theodore Koumelis

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