Plans to test a standard contract model for outbound travel during the May Golden Week holiday have been shelved. Consumers who are travelling overseas during the May holidays will be missing out on some new benefits.

A universal overseas travel contract model for Chinese citizens was jointly issued by the National Tourism Administration and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce at the end of last month. It was expected to be immediately adopted. But so far, most travel agencies have yet to launch the new contract.

“We are still waiting for the final confirmed contact for outbound travel from the National Tourism Administration, and we can not start using it until the formal printout is released by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. It seems that it will not be launched during the May holiday,” says GM assistant Shi Xiaojuan of China Travel International.

Applications for overseas travel started from the end of March, and those for European routes will be ended this weekend. So far, many overseas tour groups have sold more than 80 percent of their places.

However, most travel agencies in Beijing are still using the old local standardized travel contract, and the situation is the same in other cities. Travel agencies expect the newly issued contract to be implemented in the middle of April. Experts point out that some travellers to East and South Asia will not be covered by the new standardized contract.

The first standard contract model for outbound travel will give a clearer definition of certain terms, such as traveling expenses, or when a tourist leaves or changes his or her tourist group. It also provides more details on transportation, food and shopping time, as well as issues related to compensation.

In China, the biggest travel market in Asia, the unified contract model is expected to reduce the disputes and pitfalls related to poorly drafted travel contracts.

Roy Graff/ChinaContact