加入WTO,中国旅行社业昔日半遮 半掩的大幕终于被完全打开,一些 国际旅游“大鳄”已加快了抢占中 国旅游市场的步伐。据统计,截止2001年底,已有11家中外合资旅行社宣告成立,其外方投资多来自欧美和港澳地区,其中不乏世界著名跨国旅游公司,如美国运通、罗森布鲁斯等。中国旅行社业乃至整个旅游业的国际竞争国内化,国内市场国际化局面正在形成。其实旅游业是我国对外开放最早的服务行业,从整体上看,中国旅游业目前已经形成了领域广、程度深的开放格局。在GATS(服务贸易总协定)关于旅游服务的承诺谈判中,旅行代理商和旅游经营商服务是我国最先承诺的两个部门之一(另一部门为旅馆与餐馆),为此,中国早在1998年底就取消了对中国境内设立中外合资旅行社的限制。我们认为,加入WTO对中国旅行社业虽然没有大弊,但是也须加强对入世的利 After the accession to the WTO, the half-covered curtain of the Chinese travel agency industry has finally been fully opened. Some international predators have accelerated the pace of seizing the Chinese tourism market. According to statistics, as of the end of 2001, 11 Sino-foreign joint venture travel agencies have been established. The foreign investment is mostly from Europe, the United States, Hong Kong and Macao. Many of the world’s leading multinational travel companies, such as American Express and Rosen Bruce, are involved. The international competition in China’s travel agencies and the entire tourism industry is domesticized, and the internationalization of the domestic market is taking shape. In fact, tourism is the earliest service industry in China’s opening to the outside world. On the whole, China’s tourism industry has now formed an open field with a wide scope and a deep degree. In GATS negotiations on travel services, travel agents and tour operator services are one of the two most promising sectors in China (the other is hotels and restaurants). At the end of 1998, restrictions on the establishment of Sino-foreign joint venture travel agencies in China were lifted. We believe that although there are no major deficiencies in the travel agency industry in China, China’s accession to the WTO must also strengthen its access to the WTO.