Chinese travelers’ race: Around-the-world tour sold out in 13 seconds

Fri, 02/03/2012 - 04:57 — Anonymous by CNNGo staffWe wrote more than a
dozen posts on China's growing appetite for luxury last year. Few things
would seem surprising anymore, until we saw this: a 66-day around-the-world
tour that sold out in China 13 seconds after the reservation hotline opened
-- roughly the time it takes Olympic-champion hurdler Liu Xiang (刘翔) to
cover 110 meters. Did we mention the price? The cost of the whole trip is a
whopping RMB 660,000 (US$104,654), about eight to 10 times the annual salary
of an average Chinese. The Magnificent 11  The tour -- which takes in more
than a dozen countries and both poles -- was organized by Ctrip.com, one of
China's biggest online travel agencies, and the news was confirmed to us
by Jack You (游金章), general manager of Ctrip's high-end package tour
department. He said the eye-catching package was sold last June through
Ctrip's hotline. After a half-year visa application process, the group took
off from Shanghai on January 29. Yet even as the high-fliers' luggage was
being loaded, 30 wanna-be travelers whose names were on the waiting list were
hoping against hope for a last-minute drop-out.read more