The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Strengthening Tourism Cooperation with China, signed yesterday between Prime Minister Julie Gillard and Premier Wen Jiabao, has been hailed by the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) as an opportunity to “increase yield and expand our product” into an export market which is now Australia’s largest.
“China has just moved into first place as Australia’s biggest export market in expenditure and the forecast is for this market to continue to grow rapidly through 2020,” ATEC chairman John King said.
“With a rapidly growing wealthy middle class, an …

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) — China’s tourism businesses should extend their services to serve more people as domestic travel remains a major contributor to the country’s tourism industry over the next five years, officials from the China Tourism Academy said Sunday.
Further, Chinese businesses should serve travel and tourism demands of a wider range of people, especially their core needs, in order to achieve further development, Dai Bin, deputy head of the academy said at the China Tourism Academy Summit 2011 held from Saturday to Sunday.
“To satisfy the needs of average …

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, the worldwide leading independent research institute related to the Chinese outbound tourism market, is proud to participate to this famous fair by organizing several events like the CTW Award and several panel discussions. Furthermore, the successful ‘Exhibitors Introduction Workshop’ by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, COTRI Director, and Ms. Berenice Aceves, COTRI General Manager, drew lots of attentions. This is the reason why COTRI is pleased to make available the PPT used at this occasion.
1) China Outbound Tourism 2011: Arrival of the New Chinese …

SUVA, March 27 (Xinhua) — An estimated 18,000 Chinese nationals visited Fiji in 2010, according to the Tourism Fiji here Sunday.
This is an increase of more than 32 percent over the 2009 figure, Tourism Fiji Chief Executive Officer Josefa Tuamoto told state owned radio station Fiji Broadcasting Commission.
Tuamoto said that China is an emerging market and his agency looks to get even more visitors from China this year as they lobby Fiji as the best holiday destination in the world.
Tourism Fiji recently organized a workshop in Shenzhen, China for Chinese …

The full picture the effect of the March 11 earthquake will have on the Japanese tourism industry is slowly becoming clear with Chinese media reporting mass cancellations of trips planned by that country’s citizens.
The months of March and April are traditionally the most popular time for Chinese to visit Japan as they coincide with the popular sakura – or cherry blossom – season, according to the Beijing branch of the Japan National Tourism Organisation.
But companies such as Ctrip (http://english.ctrip.com/) – one of China’s major online tourism agencies – have cancelled …

BRISBANE, Australia, March 9 (Xinhua) — China has surpassed the United Kingdom (UK) as Australia’s most valuable tourism market, a survey released by the Australian Government Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism on Wednesday found.
Tourism Research Australia’s December 2010 quarterly results of the international visitor survey showed a 5 percent increase in international visitors in 2010, and a 4 percent rise in their spending.
Almost 5,441,000 people came to Australia in 2010 and they spent 18 billion AU dollars (18.13 billion U.S. dollars) on their trips, the report said.
In terms of …

The competitiveness of China’s tourism industry ranked 39th worldwide, which is a leap forward from its ranking of 62nd four years ago, according to the “2011 Global Tourism Competitiveness Report” released by the World Economic Forum, which is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 7.
The increase has resulted from infrastructure construction and a strong investment in tourism, according to the report. It added that in 2010, the number of Chinese outbound tourists ranked third in the world, and China has become an important driving force in the development of global …

Jumeirah Group, the hotel-management company that operates Dubai’s sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, has identified travelers from China as the fastest growing group of guests in its hotels, chairman Gerald Lawless said.
Chinese customers now represent about five percent of guests, up from less than one percent three years ago, Lawless said in an interview at the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin.
Jumeirah, the operator of luxury hotels and resorts owned by Dubai’s government, plans to open about nine hotels this year, including two in the Maldives. Properties will also be opened …

There’s been plenty of evidence presented to convince the world that China is fast rising towards becoming the most influential international tourism market there is but a new report gets a little more specific with the details.
Not only should the world be catering to the needs of the Chinese traveler, apparently, it should be catering to the needs of Chinese women in particular.
The “2010 Trend Report of Women’s Travel” claims the amount spent on travel by “well educated and well-paid” single Chinese women rose to 4,300 yuan (468 euros) last …

On Feb. 24, 2011, the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) and Magic Cities Germany Association jointly held a tourism promotion in Xiamen, marking the first-ever tourism promotion in Fujian province brought by a national tourist board from a European Union country, reports Straits Metropolitan News.   GNTB used to focus on Guangzhou and Shenzhen in South China, and it moved its promotion to Xiamen for the booming tour industry in Fujian province, according to Ms. Yeung Wing Sze, GNTB’s representative to Hong Kong and South China (Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi and …

ITB Berlin Convention 2011
March 9, 2011 – 16:00-16:45 h
Hall 7.1a, Auditorium New York 1
THE NEW CHINESE TOURIST – How to cater, reach, and connect to a new breed of sophisticated Chinese consumers
Moderator: Professor Wolfgang Georg Arlt – Director, China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI)
Presentation: Jens Thraenhart – President, Dragon Trail (Beijing, China)
Panel:
Declan Hurley – VP Marketing, Ritz Carlton Hotel Company
Angelos Vlachos – Greek National Tourist Organization (GNTO), former China Director & Tourism Policy Advisor
Raymond Chen Mingqiong – GM Berlin Office, Hainan Airlines
Jens Thraenhart – President, Dragon Trail (Beijing, China)
A structural …

Helicopter companies ride on country’s growing interest in luxury aviation
A Wenzhou-based auto parts manufacturer has obtained approval from European regulators to jointly manufacture with Eurocopter the first luxury commercial helicopter in China next year, amid growing interest in aviation in the country.
With technical support from Eurocopter, which is considered the world’s largest helicopter manufacturer in terms of revenue, Zhong-Ou Group plans to complete the first prototype by the end of this year before large-scale manufacturing begins.
Eurocopter, based in Marignane, France, is a subsidiary of the Leiden-based European Aeronautic Defense and …

Canada has begun a major advertising campaign to woo China’s big-spending travellers as the number of outbound tourists from the world’s most populous nation looks set to explode.
China estimates outbound travellers will rise to 100 million over the next decade, with the potential to generate an extra $300 million in tourism revenue for Canada by 2015, according to The Canadian Tourism Commission.
Canada was granted Approved Destination Status (ADS) in June 2010. The designation meant that the CTC could market Canada in China and compete on an equal footing with other …

Prices may be up around the region but China’s growing band of happy holidaymakers have proven unperturbed over the Spring Festival period, heading overseas in record numbers.
And it’s a trend that is set to continue, according to the country’s official tourism bodies, as Chinese travelers become more adventurous on their breaks and, of course, have more money to spend.
China’s National Holiday Tourism Office this week claimed there had been a rise of 60 percent in outbound tourists from Beijing alone, even though travel agents had upped prices to such popular …

The number of the tourism destinations for Chinese citizens hit 140 in 2010, with the number of outbound tourists up by 20 percent year on year, said tourism authorities Tuesday.
The number of outbound Chinese tourists reached 57.4 million in 2010, up 20.4 percent year on year, said Shao Qiwei, head of the National Tourism Administration, at the National Tourism Working Conference.
China signed seven tourism exchange and cooperation agreements with six countries in 2010. Revenue generated by tourism in China hit 1.57 trillion yuan (238.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2010, up …

China’s Hainan Airlines, has launched direct flights between two southern Chinese cities and Sydney, as tourism authorities predict that China is on its way to becoming Australia’s biggest inbound tourism market, SBS’ Cassandra Hill reports.
The expected boost comes as some Queensland tourism operators say they are counting on the Oprah effect to counter cancellations and poor bookings, following the state’s flood crisis.
Hainan Airlines and Sydney Airport executives say that there is a strong demand from the booming economic centres of Shenzen and Hangzhou.
“Since Hainan Airlines launched its first flight between …

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) tourism officials met here Sunday for promoting tourism cooperation.
“The meeting is to boost closer tourism cooperation for better tourism growth in ASEAN as well as in the three countries — China, Japan and South Korea,” Tith Chantha, director general of Cambodian Ministry of Tourism, told reporters after the meeting on Sunday.
He said that the three countries, especially China, have helped ASEAN a lot in developing tourism through human capacity building and promotions …

Think about the population of China and India and the newly affluent middle class with money to spend. Imagine more favorable government policies and increased airline flight services. Then you can get a picture of the booming bilateral tourism of the two Asian giants.
“The tourism market between China and India is developing really fast and we find the growth potential to be huge,” said Zhuge Hong, general manager of Sanya Holiday Travel India Ltd.
The Hainan-based Chinese tourism agency recently opened its first sales office in New Delhi, aiming to take …

BEIJING – A record 56 million mainland tourists traveled overseas last year, Shao Qiwei, head of the China National Tourism Administration, said on Wednesday.
That number is 2 million more than an earlier estimate of 54 million, and is also an increase of 8.3 million over 2009.
In contrast, 55.7 million overseas tourists visited China and stayed for at least one night last year, up 9.5 percent year-on-year. In total, 134 million overseas visitors came to China, up 6 percent year-on-year, spending $45 billion in the country.
Meanwhile domestic tourists made 2.1 billion …

China earned 1.55 trillion yuan ($234.8 billion) in tourism revenues last year, an increase of 20 percent year on year, as the industry rid itself of the shadow of the global financial crisis.
Further, some 2.1 billion domestic trips were made, up 11 percent from one year ago, according to figures released by the National Tourism Administration (NTA).
Those trips generated 1.25 trillion yuan in revenues.
Inbound trips increased 6 percent year on year to 134 million, producing revenues of $45 billion.
Shao Qiwei, director of NTA, said China’s tourism industry had embraced a …