CHINA'S National Tourism Administration (NTA) has cleared the way for the setting up of 23 joint-venture travel companies but none will open this year, a top official says.
Only Tianjin in northern China had signed an agreement with a foreign partner and submitted an application for approval of its joint venture, NTA chairman Liu Yi said.
The main problem is that most of the tourist sites permitted to establish the joint-venture travel companies have not finished building adequate facilities.
'But we'll try to accelerate that process this year and next year, especially since next year is China Resort '96,' Mr Liu said at the Hong Kong International Travel Exposition yesterday.
The lack of suitable facilities and the rather remote locations of some of the tourist sites have meant that the Chinese have had trouble finding foreign partners.
Foreign companies also are often more interested in establishing wholly owned travel companies in China - which are still prohibited - rather than joint ventures, Mr Liu said.