A recently signed "Tourism Memorandum of Understanding" between China and Britain, allowing individuals to travel in the UK; once upon a time just a dream, is finally a reality for nation's people, reported today's Oriental Morning Post.

The British Tourism Authority and Virgin Atlantic Airlines have been busily preparing issues of various kinds of tour packages, especially the individual ones, since the UK has become an official tourist destination of China.

"We are to promote a self-help tourist product with the cooperation of GTA, a sole investment travel agency," unveiled Yang Huifeng, director of Sales and Marketing of Virgin Atlantic Airlines China Mainland.  "This product, including one round trip ticket and three to four days' accommodations, is priced at 6,000 to 13,000 yuan (US$1517.95) per person now."

Local tour agencies, such as JinJiang Travel, also have eyes on this potential market.  An eight-day tour to UK, including sightseeing in Cambridge, Oxford, London and Manchester, is set to depart on February 9 from Shanghai.

So far, 25 member nations of the European Union are destination countries of Chinese tourists.  Worldwide, tourists can go to 91 countries; 63 of which are currently visited by Chinese.

(Shanghai Daily January 27, 2004)