Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne’s famous novel has set the bench mark of 80 day for traveling around the world. But if a travel agency like Ctrip.com designs a package that takes you around the world in eighty days it would cost you 1.01 million yuan (US$159,640). They have actually floated such a package triggering a buzz amongst the would-be tourists online. It has generated a lot of discussion regarding its merits or the lack of it. The tour which is scheduled for next year will be open for booking on the 26th of March in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei.
You have to be quick on the uptake as only 15 places are available. With the number of billionaires multiplying in China at a fast pace it is expected that there will be many takers for the expensive luxury travel package. The 80 day journey takes the affluent tourists to twenty countries and regions. The exclusive group of tourists will stay at the most luxurious hotels cruise ships, and dine in the fanciest restaurants. The carnival in Brazil, Taj Mahal in India, the Amazonian rain forest and the Nazka Lines in South America are the highlights of the package.
The most unusual destination in the package is the South Pole which the tourists will visit in a cruise ship. Ctrip has been arranging luxury tours around the world and this would be their third such trip. Their earlier trips cost 500,000 yuan and 660,000 yuan respectively and the tour last year sold out in just 30 seconds as the businessmen from Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces snapped it up as soon as it was opened for booking. There are people who think that the package is overpriced but it has become a status symbol and the demand is greater than the supply so the price will remain high.
