BY: Frankie Chee

The Sichuan earthquake in May which claimed almost 70,000 lives resulted in an outpouring of concern and donations from Singaporeans - and now, tour agencies are offering them a chance to visit victims and the disaster areas firsthand.

Chan Brothers Travel and Commonwealth Travel have come up with discount tours to Sichuan which include visiting quake victims and seeing damaged areas. Depending on the package, some of the trips are more than half the usual price of tours, pre-quake.

However, some might wonder at the wisdom of travel agencies trying to drum up interest to visit an earthquake-ravaged area and interact with victims.

It could seem like disaster tourism - capitalising on the misery of communities affected by disasters.

After all, the mercy visits will be sandwiched between the scenic sightseeing, chirpy photo-taking sessions and local feasts the trippy tourists will tuck into.

Credit manager Edmund Toh, 37, says: 'If these people are going there and really doing some good, then that is commendable. Otherwise, it will be like a visit to the zoo and these victims are the animals put up on display.'

Commonwealth's tour, called Journey Of Love, includes a visit to damaged sites in Du Jiang Yan city and to temporary relief shelters to visit victims. Around $30 of the total trip price per person will be spent on food and necessities such as blankets and winter-wear for victims.

The company is also facilitating a child-sponsorship scheme where those interested can pay the education fees of children orphaned by the disaster.

So far, Commonwealth says more than 10 have signed up for its tour since it was offered a week ago.

The Chan Brothers tour will make a detour to Mianyang - a destination that is not on its usual Sichuan tour for tourists - to interact with affected villagers and to see a temporary school that has been built.

The travel agency says it has received some inquiries, but expects people to sign up during the annual National Association of Travel Agents Singapore fair ending today.

Its senior marketing communications executive, Ms Jane Chang, says: 'To go there and do a normal sightseeing tour - enjoying the beautiful sights - and not visit the suffering victims is like turning a blind eye to all the pain and wreckage there.'

Indeed, some consumers, such as Yvonne Lim, 32, general manager of a logistics firm, says: 'Why not? People pay to go on tour packages, and some want to kill two birds with one stone.

'Admittedly, the main thing is still the tour, but why not do some good deeds while at it?'

Commonwealth Travel's senior vice-president of marketing and public relations Alicia Seah says tourists will show their concern and care, and let the victims know they are not alone.

Drawing parallels to a visit to an old folks' home or orphanage, she says that the visits will allow visitors to understand the plight of the victims and realise how fortunate they themselves are. 'I feel this is a very meaningful type of travel,' she says.

Her company, which claims to be the market leader for tours to China, hopes to revive the travel market to this once-popular destination by organising such tours.

She says: 'Many people have shown their concern or donated in one way or another, but these are short-term efforts. The best way is to provide jobs so the people can resume their lives. The restaurants and hotels need tourists.'

She highlights that tourism is an important industry for the province, bringing in $24.1 billion last year - or 11.6 per cent of its gross domestic product - and that there are more than 400,000 people working in the hospitality industry there.

Chan Brothers' eight-day tour, which has departures from this month to October, is $609 for the first person while the second person pays just $388.

Commonwealth's eight-day package starts from $988 for the first 30 people, and $1,288 for the rest. The 12-day one is $1,288 for the first 30 sign-ups and $1,588 for the rest.

Such trips are usually between $1,788 and $1,988.

Ultimately, it is up to the consumer to decide whether to go. As a spokesman for the Singapore Red Cross notes: 'If the help being rendered is in line with existing relief programmes, then their participation will be welcomed.

'However, if the intention is to visit the survivors and view for themselves the devastation, such attitude will more likely impact negatively on the survivors and compound the trauma they have experienced.'

She adds: 'In the end, it is up to individuals who join such tours to understand their own motivations and decide what the visit will mean to them.'

This article was first published in Life!, The Sunday Times on August 3, 2008.