The first authorised group of package tourists from China took a whirlwind tour around the capital last week — and it is hoped that thousands more will follow in their footsteps.

"The Chinese read the news and there is anxiety about London safety... but it may well be they still come to the UK but spend less time in London," said Carey Fletcher, director at China Holidays, a small independent travel agent in the capital that caters for some 2000 Chinese visitors to Britain per year.

Last Monday, a group of 80 Chinese sightseers took in a catamaran tour of the River Thames and a trip to the London Eye — a huge Ferris wheel punctuating the city's skyline — before making a beeline for Buckingham Palace.

The tourists also headed for the Madame Tussauds waxwork museum to snap pictures alongside models of footballer David Beckham with his ex-Spice Girl wife Victoria and Hollywood's glamour couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Approved Destination Status
The historic visit came after China gave the green light for its citizens to go on organised tours — stamping Britain with "Approved Destination Status" (ADS) for the emerging economic power's population.

"There's a tremendous amount of built-up interest because the Chinese generally have not been able to travel to London or the UK as tourists," said Fletcher, who has recently opened up a Beijing office to cater for the predicted influx.

A similar agreement covering most European countries came into effect in September last year, but Britain was not a signatory. Until now, only business people and students had been authorised to make the trip.

According to industry estimates, as many as 10 000 ADS tourists per year could now venture into Britain, Fletcher predicted.

Chinese the future of tourism
Tourism bosses believe Britain can reap the benefits, despite fears of a downturn in the sector following the fatal July 7 suicide bomb attacks that killed 52 people plus four suicide bombers and injured 700, and a further series of botched bombs.

Commentators say that China, with a population of 1.3-billion and a rapidly expanding and affluent middle class, offers huge potential as a source of visitors. Visit Britain, the tourism body, said it counted on double-digit growth in the number of Chinese flocking to the country in 2005.

Some 95 000 visas were granted for Chinese to visit Britain last year, for business or educational purposes, an increase of around 40 percent on the previous year, Visit Britain spokesperson Carl Walsh said. Those visitors spent around £131-million while in Britain.

The number of Chinese holidaying abroad has increased ten-fold in the past decade, from four million in 1995 to a predicted 40 million in 2005, a recent Visit Britain report said.

To that end, British Airways opened up a passenger route from London to Shanghai, China's largest city and business hub, at the start of June. "Naturally, the Approved Destination Status helps us," commented BA spokesperson Amanda Allan.

Meanwhile, of the 80 visiting tourists last week, around half of them were Chinese journalists. "When they go back to China there is going to be a lot of publicity about coming to the UK," noted Fletcher.

Recent estimates from the Tourism Industry Energency Response Group said that the London bombings would cost Britain's national tourism industry £300-million in foreign tourist revenues this year.

AFP