Tour packages to China attract more Chinese-Indonesian travelers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

When Vivi Anggraeni visited the place where she was born, China, last year, she had the time of her life.

"I'm glad I took my mother up on her invitation to spend my holiday there," the 23-year-old graduate degree student said.

She said that it was inspiring for her to witness the industrialization of the communist country.

Vivi is among the thousands of Indonesians, many of Chinese descent, who prefer to spend their holidays in the world's most populous countries, rather than going to Europe or other western countries.

According to several travel agencies in Jakarta, Indonesians are now eager to travel to China.

"Many Indonesians are anxious to see what a communist country such as China looks like today. Especially as China has emerged as one of the world's economic giants," said Vayatour's tour supervisor Dwi Indra Hartono.

Driven by consumer demand, the 40-year-old Vayatour travel agency is now selling China tour packages besides packages to Australia and European countries.

Indra said, this year alone, at least 200 people had gone on Vayatour's China tours, which include trips to Beijing-Huangshan- Shanghai in eight days, and Beijing-Xi'an-Gui Lin-Shanghai- Hangzhou-Shenzen-Hong Kong in 13 days.

Indra said the reasonable price of China packages was a major decider for travellers.

"Our China tour packages are longer than European tour packages but cheaper," he said.

Another travel agent, Bayu Buana, said since China had became a popular destination, it had increased its marketing of China packages and shelved some European packages.

The agent's assistant tour manager, Alex Djunisap, told The Jakarta Post that the simple procedure to enter China was also encouraging to Indonesians.

"Since the 9/11 attack in the U.S., visa processing in the U.S. and some European countries has become so complicated and tiring. But for China, the application process is easy. I have never heard of an Indonesian being rejected," Alex said.

According to Alex, in comparison to the visa application process at some western countries' embassies, the application at the Chinese Embassy here is straightforward: Fill in the form, show your passport and on the next day, your visa will be granted.

"It's different when you want to travel to a western country. Besides handing over your passport and filling in the form, you also have to show up at the embassy, either for pictures or interviews. And then, show your round-trip ticket so they're certain you won't stay on as an illegal immigrant," he said.

"Moreover, you have to wait for days, weeks, even months for confirmation," he added.

From January to May, Bayu Buana sent 25 tour groups of 20 tourists each to China.

Alex said that among China tour packages offered by the agency, the Hangzhou-Huangshan-Xi'an-Guilin-Quanzhou-Shenzen-Hong Kong package was the most popular.

Aware of the trend, AB Travel is now selling a Muslim China Tour package.

The package, according to the agency, is aimed at overcoming Muslims' wariness about visiting the country, which has three main religions of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism.

"Most Indonesian Muslims are worried about two things if they want to travel to China: the unavailability of halal food and mosques. Our tour package solves that problem," said Nicky Christina, the agency's sales and marketing manager.

She tells would-be travelers that there are Muslim villages in Beijing, with mosques and hotels that provide halal food.

Nicky said that since the package was launched last month, six groups of 15 to 30 Muslims had traveled to China and experienced praying in mosques in Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai. (006)

Popular tourism destinations in China

Beijing: the capital of the People's Republic of China
Main attractions: Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City

Xi'an: the capital of China's northern province of Shaanxi
Main attraction: the Army of Terra-cotta Warriors

Shanghai: the most industrialized City in China, a place to shop
Main attractions: Sun Yat Sen's residence and shopping malls

Huangshan: located in Anhui, a province in western China
Main attractions: Yellow mountains

Hongkong: formerly colonized by Britain and returned to China in 1999
Main attractions: shopping malls and Disney World amusement park

Shenzen: located in the southern part of china, Guangdong province
Main attractions: in special economic zone, people can buy low priced mass-industry products