Great Wall of China. Image: zhaojiankang/IStock.com via AFP Relaxnews
Domestic group tours are resuming in China, in a sign that the country is trying to restart the travel economy.
Tui China has relaunched sales of domestic tours throughout the country for holidaymakers and pleasure seekers who have been cooped up for months and are eager to hit the road again, even if just within their own borders.
The group has resumed sales of short trips to popular domestic tourist destinations in the mountains, to Chinese beach resorts, island getaways to Hainan as well as for city breaks near major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. The tours are sold under “Tui Selection.”
Tui China says the destinations chosen include only places where the epidemic has been completely brought under control.
“Our offices in Beijing and Shanghai were also in operation during the crisis, but holidays could not be sold,” said TUI CEO Fritz Joussen in a statement. “Now we see a clear backlog demand for holiday travel. TUI China will gradually increase its range of offers in the next few weeks.”
Tui, which is headquartered in Germany, also called on industry players in Europe to develop a travel roadmap, pointing out that despite the travel ban currently in force, traffic on its booking website is at 90% compared to the same period last year. JB
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