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Tourism: Tourists worry about group travel

By Zhao Tingting (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-10-23 17:15

Worries about travel packages and service levels are frustrating tourists' interest in group travel, said ctrip.com, China's major online travel service company.

The company's recent survey on group travel shows about 70 percent of the 2,000 respondents chose group travel for convenience, and 30 percent chose it for lower prices and safety.

Yet more than half of the respondents expressed their concerns about travel packages and service levels.

In addition, over 40 percent of respondents focused most on whether they could go on trips that embraced all of an area's tourist attractions and scenic spots. Tourists also worried about problems of accommodation (18.58 percent), shopping (15.33 percent) and catering (12.5 percent). 　　

To prevent problems in group travel, travel agents should standardize their operations, and tourists should make reservations carefully, as choosing larger travel agents with certificates, a high standard of management and good service, said an industry insider.

Customers should clearly understand the travel package's conclusion, schedule and standard of catering and accommodation before the reservation, he said.