Design you DIY tours on the Net

As China merges into the world, sightseeing tours outside the country are no longer things beyond reach. Chinese tourists now can be seen in Southeast Asia, Australia, the ROK, Japan and Europe, which just opened to China. On the other hand, DIY tours have taken the place of group tours to become the major organization form in domestic tourism. As a combination of the two, overseas DIY tours have gradually won heart of young people.

The advantage of DIY tours is obvious--travelers can arrange their schedule and routes "freely" They can decide by themselves when to go out and what to do, instead of passively following tour guides, who always have to balance interests of all parties. Besides, DIY tours usually turn out more romantic for lovers and couples.

Unlike domestic DIY tours, to go outside China one has to face two barriers: language and visa. Although more than 50 countries (including some in Europe) have opened DIY tour service to Chinese citizens, most of them have visa limitations.

Presently, satisfactory DIY destinations for Chinese are mainly in Southeast Asia counties as well as in Hong Kong and Macao. Visas to these countries and regions are relatively easy and Chinese is used in these areas. They are not far from China, making low flight cost possible. Exotic customs and rich tourism resources have made these areas top choices for holidays.

Websites offering DIY tour products appeared in recent years. www.forTraveler.com, a CYTS partner, is a leading one among them. Unlike large tourism websites such as Ctrip.com and eLong.com, forTraveler focuses on online selling of DIY tour products. Supported by mature products from large travel agencies, forTraveler features a flexible ordering system in which tourists can select products such as ticket and hotel reservation and local tour guide, as well as decide routes and estimate expenses online. The options of "local tour guides" and "visa agent" can partly solve the problems of language and visa.