CORRESPONDENCE

Travel Assistance in China 1993-1995

To the Editor: World travel by air, as measured in passengers and

plane movements, increased over 500% in the 1980s. In the 1990s, that number is expected to be even higher. This sheer volume of travelers makes it inevitable that unplanned problems will arise for manywhat should trav- elers do if they develop problems during their travel? If they had bought appropriate travel insurance, such trav- elers could receive free service from an assistance agency if they encounter difficulties.

China International Travel Assistance To ensure effective emergency assistance to overseas

travelers, China InternationalTravel Service (CITS) Head Office, which is China’s largest travel agency, set up China InternationalTravel Assistance (CITA) in February 1991. In the event of serious illness or injuries, insured travel- ers can immediately contact CITA (Tel: 66031 185; FAX: 66012040).The phones of CITA are manned 24 hours a day, year-round, by multilingual staff fluent in English, and staff on duty during the daytime can manage Japanese

Table 1 Asking for Assistance

Continents and Nationalities of the Travelers

Sex Origins No. M (No.) F (No.) Europe

France Belgium Britain Spain Switzerland Germany Netherlands Ireland Italy

China (Taiwan)

China (Hong Kong) Singapore Israel

Africa South Africa

America Brazil U.S.A. Argentina Uruguay Mexico Canada

Australia New Zealand Unknown

Asia

Japan

Oceania

Total

77 10 8 4 2 2 1 1 1

30 25

5 4 3

8

14 6 2 2 1 1

3 1 6

217

40 1 4 0 1 1 1 1 1

25 15 3 3 3

7

5 5 2 2 1 0

2 1 3

127

37 9 4 4 1 1 0 0 0

5 1 0 2 1 0

1

9 1 0 0 0 1

1 0 3

90

and 18 other 1anguages.They are experienced in providing emergency assistance including nonmedical assistance. The traveler will need to supply identieing information: name, nationality, sex, age, tour code number, nature of illness or injury, place, and name of any related insurance company or assistance organization.After verieing writ- ten certification of payment, CITA will inform the local CITS branch to take the ill or injured traveler to the best local hospital. Subsequent movement of the sick or wounded to home, or to other locations as necessary, will be facilitated. CITA cooperates with GESA Assistance, World Access (Asia) Pte Ltd., and Far East Assistance Ltd. (Asia). Any tourists who buy insurance or assistance from those organizations before they travel to China can con- tact CITA whenever they experience difficulties and can receive rescue service. Currently, CITA is exploring a rela- tionship with ASSISTCARD (U.S.A.) and Taikang Life Insurance Company.

CITA Experiences: 1993-1995 Table 1 shows the origins and sex of 217 tourists

involved in 162 episodes of injury or illness and assisted by CITS in 25 provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions in China between 1993 and 1995.The majority of assisted travelers had bought insurance from an assis- tance organization that had an established relationship with CITA. Travelers’ ages ranged from 3 to 83 years. Tourists from France,Taiwan, Japan, Brazil, and Belgium comprised 72% of travelers assisted. The most common locations of the 162 episodes of assistance were Beijing (7 I), Shanghai (23), Shaanxi (lo), Shandong (9), Tibet (7), Liaoning (6), Guangdong (5), and Guangxi (4).

Ofthe 162 episodes, 144 (89%) involved 185 travel- ers who received medical-related assistance.The top three m e d a l conditions requiring assistance were cardiovascular, respiratory, and mgestive system diseases.Trauma accounted for 17% of cases (25/144). Six travelers died, and causes included (one each): AIDS, sudden cardiac death, plane crash, lung cancer, traffic accident, and unknown.

Both medical and nonmedical problems are an inher- ent risk of travel. In addition to visiting a reputable travel medicine clinic for pretravel advice, medications and immunizations, and to carrying their own medicines and a copy of their relevant medical records, travelers to China are advised to arrange for travel insurance that specifically covers the services of CITA.

Shaoping Liu, MD, Chief Physician, Beijing Health and Quarantine Bureau, China, PRC. Zemin Zhang, BA, Deputy Manager; China International Tvavel Service Head O$ce, Multi-Service Department, Travel Assis- tance, Beijing, China, PRC. Yuanchao Song, BS, Director, Computer Department .f Bei-

jing Tourism Administration, Beijing, China, PRC.

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