Among the measures announced was the temporary return of the "quality deposit" to local travel agencies, who can keep the money until December 31, 2004. This means agencies running inbound travel business can avail of 400,000 yuan (US$48,193) of funds; those allowed to do both inbound and outbound businesses can receive 1 million yuan, and those involved with domestic tour packages can get 60,000 yuan.

Quality deposit is the money travel agencies across the world handle to local tourism authority when launching their business. The money is used to compensate aggrieved tourists who file "legitimate" complaints against tour companies.

The measure immediately drew praise from agencies.

"The 1 million yuan, which amounts to two-thirds of the quality deposit we turned in to the commission, will offer us sufficient help," said Wang Yujia of Shanghai Dazhong International Travel Service.

"The money will be used to pay staff salaries as well as to restart business when the SARS epidemic ends," he said.

Other steps unveiled by the commission include:

Bonuses for local travel agencies that earned US$200,000 foreign currency or more last year.

Travel agencies which bought insurance from the Shanghai branch of the People's Insurance Co of China before May 18, 2003 can have the insurance terms prolonged by four months.

The bonuses will especially be helpful for big agencies which cater to a large number of overseas tourists, such as Shanghai China International Travel Service Co Ltd.

"Last year, we received about 105,000 tourists from abroad and earned more than US$10 million," said a company official Wang Zhicheng, who admitted the agency was grateful for the measure, which would bring them enough working funds to put the company back on track.

SARS is having a debilitating effect on the local tourism industry.

According to the commission, travel agencies offering both domestic and overseas tour packages reported their income plummeted by 78 percent in April compared to the same period last year, while agencies involved in domestic travel said their income fell 20 percent year-on-year.

(Eastday.com May 22, 2003)