China's Aviation, Tourism Industries Unfazed by War

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 22, 2003

China's Aviation, Tourism Industries Unfazed by War

On the second day of the US-led war against Iraq, experts within China's aviation and tourism circles agreed that its influence on their industries was very limited.

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On the second day of the US-led war against Iraq, experts within China's aviation and tourism circles agreed that its influence on their industries was very limited.

The Middle East accounted for a small share of China's outbound tourism market, while traditional southeast Asia destinations and the newly opened Maldives and South Africa were far from the war field. Therefore China's outbound tourism market would barely be affected, said Wang Yanguang, general manager of the marketing department of China International Travel Service (CITS).

He said CITS had already stopped organizing groups to Turkey and Egypt. The war would probably end before the end of April. During the May 1 holiday, trips to those two countries could resume.

Some Chinese business people were still attending an exhibition in Egypt and the war was not having a direct impact on China's outbound tourism market, said He Yonghui, sales executive of Aristo Tours Company.

Experts pointed out that China was regarded as safe for travelers, so inbound tourism would be even less affected than outbound.

Latest statistics from the China National Tourism Administration show inbound tourists reached 7.37 million in February, up 3.7 percent from the same period last year. Foreign tourists spent 1.58 billion US dollars, up 15.58 percent.

China's aviation industry also tried to see some hope in the future.

The outbreak of war dismissed uncertainty, bringing down world oil prices, which was good news for airline companies.

China Southern pledged to maintain its Middle East schedules on Saturday. "The routes does not cross the war area, so it's pretty safe," said Zhang Hong, passenger service department director.

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