Chinese travelers heading overseas

[photopress:air_tour_group.jpg,full,alignright]More travelers from China are thinking of going overseas as a change to the normal domestic trip during the National Day holiday — thanks to the rising renminbi.

The value of the renminbi against the US dollar has surged nearly 10% since July 2005, when the central bank unpegged the currency from the greenback and linked it to a basket of currencies.

Most travel agencies have said the number of tourists applying for overseas trips during the National Day holiday is higher than the same period last year.

Lin Kang at China International Travel Service said, 'We have seen an increase of 10-15% in outbound tourism.'

He said tour products to Europe, South Korea, Japan and some islands such as Maldives and Saipan are popular as is Hong Kong.

Last year, 34 million Chinese traveled overseas, making them the sixth largest group of outbound tourists worldwide. In the first half, outbound tourism grew 14% year on year, the China National Tourism Administration said earlier this month. It estimated that 37.4 million Chinese will travel overseas this year.
Source: China Daily