First Chinese organized group travel to U.S. starts Tuesday

Source: Xinhua | 06-18-2008 08:27

BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The first organized group travel to the United States started Tuesday from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong.

Consisted of 250 tourists, the first group marked the beginning of Approved Destination Status (ADS) group to U.S.

Chinese travelers pose for a photo before departure for the United States at Shanghai Pudong international airport in Shanghai, east China, June 17, 2008. About 200 Chinese travelers set out from airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong on Tuesday afternoon, becoming the first Chinese vacationers to take part in tour groups to the United States. (Xinhua Photo)

The Chinese government granted ADS to the U.S. on May 15. So far, over 130 nations and areas have ADS.

The New York Tourism Bureau will host a cocktail party on their arrival. A "China week" is planed by the Los Angeles Tourism Bureau, and the State of Hawaii will treat each traveler with special Hawaii seafood dish.

The group will spend 12 days in Washington D. C., New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Hawaii and other cities. Tourists will stay in four to five star hotels.

From June 17 to December 16, only tourists from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Hubei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong were allowed to join the ADS group to the U.S..

The U.S. is China's fourth largest tourism source nation and fifth largest tourism destination. In 2007, over 710,000 Chinese people visited U.S., up 12 percent compared with the previous year.