(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-21 21:19

Chinese tour groups to the United States may be postponed by one month to July, China Central Television Station reported today.

The trips, which were previously expected to start in June, were delayed because of the long process it takes to apply for visas to the US, the report said.

A guaranteed bond for US travel will be around 100,000 yuan (US$14,286), the highest among all overseas destinations for Chinese tourists, the report said.

Some domestic travel agencies have already drawn up a dozen tour itineraries, which mostly cover eastern coastal areas of the US and places such as Hawaii, the report said.

Big cities such as Washington DC and Las Vegas are also included, it added.

The trips will range from 10 to 12 days at a cost of about 20,000 yuan per person, the report said.

More than 90 countries have been listed as destinations for Chinese travelers.

The number of Chinese out-bound tourists jumped to 31 million in 2005, the highest among Asian countries, according to the National Tourism Bureau.