As the impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) wanes, both Macao and Hong Kong have seen a comeback of short-line travels from neighboring Guangdong, which was allowed to go ahead of other provinces and cities in the mainland to resume group travels to Macao and Hong Kong beginning June 1. Guangdong Province will continue to be the only source of tourists from the mainland to Macao and Hong Kong till July, when the Chinese tourist authority is expected to cautiously lift restrictions on tourist flow.

Journalists and tourist officials from Guangdong will go into detailed discussions with their colleagues in Macao to map out exciting travel routes and coordinate on joint tourist promotion schemes. One focus of the talks will be given to tourist flack for the Grand Prix Auto Race slated for October in Macao, a major international event in Macao this year.

Over the weekend, a group of journalists and tourist officials from Hong Kong visited Macao for the same purpose. The high-level tourist exchanges among the three parties in the Pearl River Delta region was designated in a meeting held in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, on June 5 in a joint effort to warm up the tourist market in the wake of the SARS attack. The efforts will be accompanied with heavy funding spurs. Macao alone has made a 30 million-pataca (US$3.6 million) budget for the tourist revival plan.

An initial effect was visible during the weekend. The Gongbei Land Checkpoint, which links Macao with Zhuhai City in Guangdong, saw 160,000 passengers on the Father's Day on June 15, some 3,300 of which were in group travels. The figures were close to the normal amount in the pre-SARS period. Well-occupied jet-boats shuttling between Macao and Hong Kong have also taken on a prosperous scene rarely seen since March.

However, tourist insiders said that a slump on long-distance travel routes has continued its effect.

(Xinhua News Agency June 17, 2003)