cTravel restrictions hurt holiday business

Travel restrictions hurt holiday business

A sharp decline in the number of government officials taking extravagant overseas trips has led some travel agencies to claim they are losing money.

The National Bureau of Corruption Prevention said on Thursday the number of outbound travelers decreased 18.4 percent last year.

The government imposed restrictions on excessive trips one year Toshiba Satellite A60-662 Battery ago when it cut the travel budget by 20 percent and tightened approval procedures.

Some travel agencies, including the Jiangxi Overseas Travel General Company in Nanchang, said they had lost revenue because of the restrictions.

"Trips have been banned. The impact on our business is very big. But I can't tell you how much," said an employee who did not want to be named.

The outbreak of H1N1 flu has worsened the situation for many travel agencies.

However, some agencies have their own ways to deal with the restriction.

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One agency has revealed that it is helping officials dodge the travel restrictions by producing fake invitations for overseas events.

A travel agent with the Beijing-based China Ocean International Travel Service said her company can produce a fake invitation to any event for between $300-$400.

The agent would not reveal further details, but said the practice was to help "justify" reasons for government-funded trips.

"It is still too early to tell whether the drop in revenue is the result of the ban," said Zhang Guangrui, director of Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "But it is true that many officials have had their extravagant travel plans rejected or canceled."

A manager surnamed Zhang with China M&R Travel Service said: "Some agencies that used to Toshiba Tecra 9100 Battery organize outbound tours for officials have had sluggish business. They have complained a lot."

A woman surnamed Feng, who arranged European-bound tours at the Nanning Overseas Travel Agency in Guangxi, said senior officials "are afraid of getting caught" and many have completely given up overseas travel.

It follows revelations last November by a blogger who posted the itineraries of two groups of government officials, one from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, and the other from Xinyu, Jiangxi province, that went to the United States and Canada on "business" trips.

While there, instead of attending business meetings and training courses as planned, the groups spent most of their time shopping and visiting scenic spots such as Niagara Falls and the Las Vegas.

The Wenzhou group's trip was alleged to have cost 650,000 yuan ($95,300), while the Xinyu group spent 330,000 yuan.

On Nov 29, the Xinyu government said it had sacked the three officials Toshiba Tecra 9000 Battery who had organized the trip, and ordered the group's members to repay the money. The four leading officials of the Wenzhou group were given either a serious warning or a warning from the local committee of the Communist Party of China in December