All the travel agencies in Shanghai are involved in an embarrassing situation while the oversea airfare of the Labor Day has increased by an unexpected margin, eastday.com reported today.

Most of the travel agencies offered their prices for Labor Day oversea traveling in March, according to the 500 yuan (US$60)'s increase margin in the Spring Festival, but the newly appeared airfare price of Southeast Asia doubled from that in the Spring Festival. Therefore, most travel agencies have to post a loss. The tourists paying the money in advance won't fill the balance of airfare, and even though the travel agencies want to cancel the trip a week ahead of time, they should pay 5 percent's penalty.

There is a crossroad before them, said the managers of several travel agencies. But to safeguarding the credit standing of their agencies, they have to offer the original prices to the tourists who have paid the money, said the managers. The airline companies should tell the travel agencies airfare prices two months before the golden vocation comes, and they could have time to do more accurate calculations, they added.

(Eastday.com.cn 04/09/2001)