Arthur's Blog: In a Sudden Switch, China Spree Replaces China Focus as the Better Source for Bargains to China

In the operation of bargain-priced, promotional tours to hot destinations, tour companies tend to drop out of price competition once their name has been established, and follow a policy of offering only higher-priced packages. They eliminate the hot deals and seek larger mark-ups and profits. I've noticed that pattern over and over again with respect to numerous competitive programs: to Ireland and Britain, to Orlando and Las Vegas, to Turkey and Spain.
Something of the same sort seems currently to be happening in the operation of tours to China. For several years now, China Focus (www.chinafocustravel.com; tel. 800/868-7244) has been the price leader, offering remarkable rates starting from below $1,000 for air-included packages to the chief Chinese cities. Suddenly, having enjoyed a torrent of business, they appear to have totally changed course. For the coming winter months, their tour product is priced several hundreds of dollars higher than the nearest competition.


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Bicyclist on the city wall, Xian. Photo by Bernd Berger
Thus, on the classic seven-night air-and-land packages to Beijing, Xian and Shanghai from San Francisco, China Focus is offering rates of $1,599 -- and also announcing that it will no longer provide a discount of $200 for January and February departures when passengers pay in cash. By contrast, China Spree -- making an obvious effort to establish itself as the new champion of budget tourists -- is offering a cash-discount price of $1,099 for a very similar tour to the same cities and for the same durations of time.
For air-and-land packages in winter that simply go to Beijing for a week, China Spree (www.chinaspree.com; tel. 855/556-6868) is offering a starting rate of $899 (and $999 for a package to both Beijing and Shanghai). China Focus, by contrast, has no such tour on its books, for anything remotely close to $899 and $999.
So for the time being, if you're looking to enjoy a bargain-priced tour to China this fall and winter, you'll need to turn to Chinaspree.com. The former price leader (China Focus Travel) is apparently feeling more comfortable with higher-priced, higher-margin products. After years of establishing itself, it is apparently seeking the higher profits that higher-priced packages are capable of producing.