This summer is as hot as ever. But people's state of mind has changed. After the SARS plague they retrieved their awareness of the importance of environment, health and life quality. As a link close to people's social and economic life, tourism has again caught the public attention.

By the middle of last July China entered its period of tourism recovery and rebound, and the Chinese soil has been vibrating with higher and higher travel waves in the last month.

Proper governmental measures boost tourism market

When tourism was badly hit by SARS, it was also storing energy for rebound. Upon the end of the epidemic, the National Tourism Administration, directed by the spirit of "grasping SARS control and economic recovery at the same time" of the State Council, issued a series of guidance for tourism work, which strongly guaranteed the sector's rebound.

Either depressed too long, or really cherishing more their health, people found no aversion in the attractive, promotional slogans as "go outdoors, go to the forest, to the sea, to nature; climbing mountains, clearing your lungs and getting relaxed". At the beginning of July, a Dalian tour from Beijing, organized by Beijing Tianma International Travel Agency under the theme "go aboard the ship, set out for the sea", attracted 600-odd people in seven days, and over hundred Hong Kong travelers took part in a group for a one-day tour in Shenzhen. By middle of July, more than 500 ROK tourists arrived in Beijing, who were separately received by CITS, CYTS and CTS-China's major travel services-and enjoyed high-level treatment in the Great Hall of the People as the first huge foreign travel group entered China after SARS. Soon after that, groups from Japan and other countries arrived in Beijing. By the middle of July most tourism markets across the country recovered by 60 percent, not to mention the heat of domestic tours. The Guizhou Province in southwest China received more than 40 percent tourists over previous years; the Nan'ao Island of Guangdong Province attracted 120-strong leisure tour groups; from July up to now the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region saw two-digital growth rate in both tourist number and revenue over the same period of last year.

Updated ideas about tourism products

A mature market only stems from difficult consumers. One of the changes on post-SARS tourism market is that many people shifted their travel aim to nature, health and leisure. If the SARS plague greatly raised the nation's awareness of environment and health and this is followed by market supplies guided by scientific ideas. Lucky enough, tourism experts had long predicted the change and repeatedly warned tour organizers to develop new routes to cater to new demands. Administration departments also promoted personalized services living up to health and security standards, taking the establishing of new image of after-SARS services a condition to re-start the market.

Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan, Xinjiang lead the nation in putting out healthy, civilized travels into nature, which has not only put tourists in a good mood but also promoted the merger between the human beings and nature.

The summer holiday usually turns out a little peak in the whole year. Along with traditional summer resorts, this year saw more verified routes focusing on leisure activities and physical building. Besides for large travel groups, service were also designed for families, friends or FIT tours of his/her own free will.

The continuously booming tourism market suggests that China still remains one of the most safe, charming tourist destinations of the world. The World Tourism Organization has lately expressed its optimism toward China's tourism development, and China's objective of building the country into the biggest tourist destination and the fourth of the world for inbound tours by the year 2020 remains unchanged.
 
(People's Daily August 25, 2003)