The Shanghai government is taking various steps to make life easier for disabled tourists traveling to the city, the Shanghai Tourism Administrative Committee said Friday.

Tourism authorities from Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces plan to train 30 guides to work for deaf-and-dumb tourists next year, publish tourist maps written in braille, and build wheelchair ramps and blind paths at all major scenic spots, said Dao Shuming, vice chairman of the local tourism committee.

"To further regulate the market and provide tourists a more comfortable traveling environment is something we'll make efforts to achieve," he said, adding that detailed standards, such as uniforms for the guides, should be settled.

Meanwhile, the city says it hopes to attract 4.5 million to 4.8 million tourists from abroad next year, expecting an increase of more than 10 percent from this year, the committee said.

Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang will cooperate closely to promote the whole Yangtze River Delta region as a destination providing packaged products to tourists from both home and abroad.

"We plan to launch joint campaigns in new markets in Russia and East Europe," Dao said. "Meanwhile, we'll try to attract more tourists from Japan and South Korea, which already make up a major part of our overseas customers."

More investments in sales promotion will be necessary, said Wang Yiran, professor of tourism management at Shanghai University.

He noted that in 2000, Hawaii spent US$500 million on tourist promotion, accounting for 5 percent of its total tourist incomes that year.

"If we were to follow suit, that means Shanghai should invest at least US$110 million in overseas promotion, which is obviously impossible currently," he said.

(Shanghai Daily November 6, 2004)