人民币升值掀起出境旅行热潮

央行宣布重启汇改一周以来，人民币对美元汇率中间价一度创下2005年7月以来的新高。随着人民币升值预期增强，出境游也出现井喷之势。想要出境游的驴友们可要抓住机会哟！

Although the floating RMB exchange rate reform means the Chinese currency may rise at both ends, over the past few days, the country's outbound tourism industry has already seen a surge on the RMB appreciation. Here's our reporter Liu Yan.

During the past few days following the Central Bank's announcement on further reform to the RMB exchange rate, the RMB exchange rate against the U.S. dollar has seen a slight appreciation, breaking the one dollar against the 6.8 yuan line and strengthening to 6.789 per U.S. dollar on Monday at some point. As a result, outbound tourism has seen a surge at most major travel agencies.

During the past week, the Sanyuanqiao branch office of China International Travel Service in Beijing has been crammed with potential travelers everyday, all day long, even up to when the office closes. A woman who was planning her trip to the U.S. says,

"I think now it's a good value for the money to travel to the United States. We're able to save a lot of money, more now than before."

With the appreciation of the value of the RMB right now, the number of visitors intending to visit the United States is climbing steadily at this travel office. Normally, the office organizes three travel groups to the States a week, but as these were instantly booked last week, the agency had to organize two more travel groups to the States to meet new demands. It's estimated that in the branch office alone, the number of Chinese visitors outbound for the United States this month will double from the previous month.

Other major travel agencies who are booking international travel are experiencing a similar surge. At the Beijing Kanghui Travel Agencies and Caesar Beijing International Travel Service, large numbers of bookings have enabled these agencies to reduce international travel fees. Travel fees to the United States have dropped nearly 30 percent from the same period last year, averaging at around 20,000 RMB yuan, or some 3,000 US dollars. The price cuts have made travel even more appealing and the number of bookings has extended to the latter half of the year.

Heng Liyang, Manager of Caesar Beijing International Travel's downtown Fuxingmen branch office says,

"This summer our outbound groups traveling to the United States are all fully booked. Further bookings will have to wait until October and November."

The United States opened as a tourist destination for Chinese citizens only two years ago. In 2009, a total of 493,000 Chinese tourists visited the United States, a surge of 4 percent over the previous year. However, the number of American tourists inbound for China has declined the same percentage for the same period due to RMB's gradual appreciation.

Dai Bin, deputy director of the China Tourism Research Institute predicts the impact of the RMB floating system on tourist flow between the US and China.

"For every percentage point the RMB appreciates against the US dollar, the number of visitors inbound to China will see a decline of 0.15 percent, but the number of outbound visitors to the United States will increase 0.1 percent."

Daibin says, this year, the number of Chinese visitors to the U.S. will increase by 10 percent to reach over 550,000. But the number of US tourists will be reduced by 15 percent. But he warns, while the number of outbound tourists surges, some domestic high-end hotels that mainly cater to foreign tourists will probably suffer losses if the RMB appreciates 5 percent.