Source: CCTV.com

04-21-2008 11:47

Chinese people should be able to get visas for group travel in the United States as early as July this year. This follows a memorandum of understanding signed earlier between the two countries aimed at making it easier for Chinese tourists to travel to the US.

Chinese people should be able to get visas for group travel in the United States as early as July this year.

At the latest China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market, many domestic travel agencies were busy promoting special package deals for the United States. More than ten different itineraries are already available, and these take in the East and West coasts, as well as Hawaii. Big cities such as Washington and Las Vegas are proving some of the most popular sites. While on the American side, many were also eager to promote the delights of travel in the US.

In fact, the final decision to allow Chinese group tours to the US is still pending approval from China's Tourism Administration. And local travel agents say this means, that given the time needed to apply for travel visas to the US, it will be at least July before groups can make their trip to America.

Xu Yan, Travel Agent said "Usually we apply for US visas a month before the trip takes place. Travellers have to go to the US Embassy by themselves and put down 100 thousand yuan as deposit which is much more than what is paid for travel to other countries."

Currently, most travel packages to the US last around ten to twelve days, and cost about 20,000 yuan.

 

Editor:Xiong Qu