H7N9 drives Chinese tourists abroad for Labor Day

As the H7N9 avian flu outbreak spreads in Shanghai and the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, Labor Day vacation plans have seen people scramble to catch a plane out of the country, the Shanghai-based National Business Daily reports. Bookings for Labor Day tours abroad are nearly full for countries in the region such as Thailand. Further afield, Europe and New Zealand are also getaway hotspots, even with tour package prices rising 10% in March. The number of confirmed bird flu cases in Ch ina reached 82 as of April 16, after Shanghai announced one new case and Zhejiang province reported four more, the Shanghai Daily reported. The virus has so far claimed 17 lives. Wu Qing, a white-collar worker at an international company in Shanghai, said he initially planned to spend his three-day holiday in Sanya in southern China, but now wants to extend his vacation for a 7-day tour to Tuscany, Italy. According to recent UN tourism statistics, China has for the first time ranked top in the average amount its tourists spent overseas, with total consumption hitting US$102 billion, or 9.5% of the global tourism market, the report said. Beijing UTS International Travel Service, which specializes in international travel, has seen its Labor Day holiday bookings, mostly 5-10 day tours, already 90% full, said deputy director Wang Zhenyue. Tours to Thailand are most popular, with the amount of tourists in March rising 60% from a year earlier and April figures predicted to double, the report said, citing industry insiders. Prices for regional tourism in East Asia have gone up 10%-20%, while prices for long-distance travel have remained pinned to last year's figures, the daily said. Registered tourist numbers for upcoming holiday rose 100% from a year earlier, and surged 200% during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, an annual Chinese holiday where people pay their respects to their ancestors, the report said. Source: Want China Times from China Travel & Tourism News http://www.chinatraveltourismnews.com/

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