As Spring Festival golden week draws near, Beijing residents are considering some new overseas destinations being promoted at the Beijing International Tourism Consultation Exhibition, which opened Friday.

Chinese tourists may now visit Sri Lanka, South Africa, Malta, Viet Nam and Egypt.

"This exhibition is helping me consider more thoroughly before deciding on a winter holiday in one of the 27 appointed foreign tourist destination countries," said Wang Yan, a 33-year-old Beijing resident.

Organized by the Beijing Municipal Tourism Administration, the three-day exhibition involves scores of tourism authorities and travel agencies.

"We are expecting more Chinese tourists since Sri Lanka became the latest country open to Chinese tourists earlier this month, together with South Africa," said Majintha Jayesinghe, second secretary of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Beijing.

Jayesinghe also mentioned that Chinese people may feel at home in his country because there are 1,000 Chinese restaurants.

Reports have said that direct flights connecting cities in China and Sri Lanka may start running in the near future if Sri Lanka experiences a Chinese-tourist boom. Right now, Chinese travelers must change flights in Hong Kong or Bangkok to get to Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, local newspapers in East China's Shanghai and in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, reported that residents of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are expected to achieve access to European Union countries next year.

Although Germany was appointed a tourist destination last year, travel agencies still can not organize tour groups to this European country because of restrictive policies related to the 1985 Schengen Agreement and the 1990 Schengen Convention. The two govern the movement of goods, capital, services and people within Europe.

The number of Chinese citizens traveling abroad is predicted to reach 100 million by 2020, making it the fourth largest overseas tourism market in the world.

(China Daily November 24, 2002)