South China's Guangdong Province will resume organizing tourist groups to neighboring Hong Kong and Macao next month after a SARS-enforced break of five weeks. And Beijing is preparing.

The province has also lifted a ban on local residents traveling to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, according to Zheng Tongyang, director of Guangdong Tourism Bureau.

"It is the right time to resume travel to Hong Kong as the World Health Organization (WHO) withdrew its travel-limit advisory on both Guangdong and Hong Kong last week,'' Zheng said on Friday.

Zheng predicted there will be a new boom in overseas travel over the summer holiday period in July and August.

Guangdong accounted for 80 percent of mainlanders visiting Hong Kong in previous years and also a large percentage of mainland people traveling to other nations and regions, Zheng said.

Many local travel agencies were already prepared to restart their Hong Kong and Macao travel business when SARS was brought under control in the middle of May.

Guangzhou Travel Corporation has reported that more than 13,000 local residents have registered to tour Hong Kong and Macao. Guangzhou Railway Travel Agency has introduced preferential prices to attract more tourists.

The cost of traveling in Hong Kong and Macao has fallen by at least 20 percent in comparison with the same period last year.

The bureau issued a ban on touring Hong Kong and Macao at the end of April because of the outbreak of SARS. This travel ban has seriously affected Guangdong's travel industry, Zheng said.

Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Public Security has released a list of requirements that local residents must fulfill before visiting Hong Kong and Macao for business and private purposes.

All companies, including State-owned enterprises and private firms, can now apply for multi-journey travel documents for their staff to visit Hong Kong and Macao.

And local residents can also apply for individual multi-journey permits to Hong Kong and Macao for visiting relatives, employment and studies starting next month.

Moreover, the China National Tourism Administration on Thursday lifted the restriction on traveling to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

It will gradually receive foreign tourists from July in areas across the country. But tours will not include those provinces with travel warnings issued by WHO.

Beijing, which has been badly hit by SARS, has drawn up comprehensive plans to boost its tourist industry by promoting new travel products and calling for co-operation with foreign cities.

A timetable has been drawn up for the resumption of the capital's tourism.

Tour groups will prepare for the resumption of tourism in Beijing from now until July 10 with the following 80 days seen as the period for a rebound. Travel promotions will be targeted at the overseas market.

(China Daily May 31, 2003)