Tighter conditions discouraged tours to China at the time devastating earthquake strikes

SIBU: The recent advisory by the Chinese Consulate in Kuching that China would impose tighter visa conditions in conjunction with the Beijing Olympic 2008 has been described as ‘a blessing in disguise’ for the travel industry.

“The recent tighter control on Visa by the Chinese government, which advisory is issued in conjunction with upcoming Beijing Olympics 2008, has somehow or rather, discouraged us (tour operators) to organise tours to China at the moment, particularly to Sichuan region which was badly hit by a major earthquake recently.

“Therefore, we or our customers were not affected by the tragedy, which in fact struck at the heart of an upcoming popular destination, between Zhong King and Chengdu. The place is mountainous, which we nicknamed Nine Rivers. I was shocked last night to find that this is where it (earthquake) happened,” said Equitorial Tours and Travel Centre Sdn Bhd managing director Robert BC Tan yesterday.

Tan was asked to confirm whether any of his tour clients were affected by the earthquake that struck Wichuan Province a few days ago. The earthquake reported to have claimed thousands of lives, and many others are still being reported missing.

Elaborating further on the new popular tourist destination in China, Tan said: “This new destination is just beginning to be popular among tourists to China, and is a very nice place with a large Muslim population. Therefore, it has many halal food, which are hot and spicy. It is very popular already.

“This place can be reached from Kuching to Singapore and to Chengdu by Silk Air after MAS suspended its flight to Chengdu about a year ago. In fact, we (Equitorial Tours and Travel Centre) have a very attractive package for visitors to this area,” he said.

Touching more on his company’s tours to China, Tan said, “In fact, there are five big attractions in China under the normal package.

“First is Beijing, which mainly depicts the historical and background of China; then we have Shanghai which is famous for the Yellow River and Yellow Mountain as well as the so-called Second Hong Kong; the third destination consists of Zhan Chia Chat and Ziamen, which has a famous mountain we call Woo Ee San (literally means 513 Mountain).

“After visiting 513 Mountain, tourists would end up in Fuzhou, Hockien and Hin Hua provinces, which are all also popular packages, and is listed fourth.

“And the fifth or latest is of course the Nine River areas.”

When asked to compare the Yellow River with Sarawak’s mighty Rejang River, Tan said, “Rejang River is very much better than Yellow River in many, many aspects. Yellow River is apparently shallower than Rejang River. Normally tourists would be ferried in a slow-moving vessel identical to a hovercraft, which would stop at the shallow part of the Yellow River. Then tourists would be happy to throw firecrackers into the water, one after the other, before going back.

“This was in contrast to the Rejang River, the longest river in Malaysia, which is rich in natural beauties with fantastic sceneries along its banks, particularly from Sibu to Kapit, where we can see clusters of beautiful longhouses, villages, small Chinese settlements and logging camps where its inhabitants embrace thousands and one different types of living style, like taking bath and fishing by the river banks.

“These are definitely major attractions to tourists.

“Our major setback is of course Rejang River is not cheap and moreover not convenient to be exploited.

“In terms of inbound foreign tourism, Sibu region is still behind when compared to Kuching and Miri cities. They have good international airports, thus enjoy better connectivity. Although there are many traditional longhouses here, we lose out to Skrang area as it is cheaper and easier for people from Kuching to go there.”

Tan also disclosed that Equitorial Tours and Travel Centre here also had budget packages (below RM2,000) to areas such as Bali and Jakarta in Indonesia, to The Philippines and Thailand which are attractive to the locals.