GUANGZHOU: Days of torrential downpours on the southern mainland have wrecked havoc on the local travel industry, with scores of tourists canceling their travel plans within and outside Guangdong province.

There has been a dramatic decline in the number of tourists in Guangdong, which bears the brunt of the worst torrential rains to hit the province in five decades, according to Tang Qiting, marketing manager of CZGL travel Service Ltd.

"Almost all tours in the province, especially rafting trips, have been canceled," Tang said in an interview with China Daily yesterday.

Normally, this is the best time of the year for rafting with ample rainfall and the temperature being relatively higher.

"But now the excessive rainfall has led to floods and landslides in some of the tourist attractions, like the Panlong Canyon in Zhaoqing," she said.

According to Tang, the number of tourists signing up for rafting trips has dropped by almost 30 percent compared to the same period last year.

"To offset the loss, we have introduced more services for our hot spring tours. We believe the revenue will not be seriously affected this year," Tang said.

Meanwhile, outbound tours, especially those to Hunan province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, have also seen their share of business loss.

"The lingering heavy rains are bringing floods to tourist hot spots, such as Zhangjiajie and Guilin. As a result, there is a huge drop in the number of tourists," Zhong Ting, manager of Guangzhou Luckyway Travel Service Ltd, a Guangdong travel agency which specializes in outbound tours.

According to Zhong, the company normally has about 100 tourists per day going to Zhangjiajie in Hunan.

"But now, the number has dropped to about 60," she said.

"There are actually no risks of landslide in these spots, but people are just too afraid. Besides, their willingness to travel outside the province has been greatly dampened by the lingering downpours," Zhong said.

"The number of tourists should be able to return to normal by the end of this month when the weather is expected to improve," Zhong added.

(HK Edition 06/19/2008 page1)