Bookings for long-distance bus tours on the mainland over Easter have dropped by almost a third from last year after a series of accidents in the past six months in which 25 Hong Kong tourists have died.
While the number of outbound tourists during the holiday will increase five to 10 per cent, fewer people will be going by bus, said Joseph Tung Yao-chung, executive director of the Travel Industry Council.
Guangdong (Hong Kong) Tours, one of the biggest mainland bus tour operators, reported a 30 per cent slump in bookings.
'In terms of the number of customers, it is about the same as last year, but most of them are choosing to go to the mainland by boat or plane,' manager Ken Chung said. 'Bus tours in general have been hit by reports of the accidents.'
Many who planned bus tours had opted to fly to Shanghai or Beijing, although he said shorter bus tours were still popular.
Eternal East Tours manager Joe Chan said 30 per cent of holidaymakers who had booked a tour to Detian waterfall in Guangxi province had cancelled.
Nine Hong Kong tourists were killed travelling to the waterfall last month and 19 were injured in an accident earlier this month.
