Hainan China to host 2014 global tourism summit-Yikes!

 

  

 

Hainan China to host 2014 global tourism summit

The 2014 World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit will help draw global attention to China's tropical island of Hainan and boost the country's travel industry. As one of the world's highest profile meetings of the tourism industry, the global summit will likely enhance cooperation between China and other countries. Hainan will host the 2014 World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit next April. "We will further cooperate with international tourism sectors to develop tourism during the summit," said Lu Zhiyuan, head of Hainan province's tourism department, at a news conference in Beijing on Friday. "It will be the second time that China will host the global summit in four years, illustrating the rising significance of the tourism industry in China," said Wu Wenxue, a senior official from the China National Tourism Administration. "The government has attached importance to the tourism industry since 2009 and considers it a strategic pillar industry that will greatly stimulate national economic development." It is estimated that the number of Chinese outbound tourists will reach 100 million by 2015. China is also expected to be the most attractive tourism destination and the fourth largest source of outbound tourism in the world by the end of 2015. The number of Chinese outbound visits is expected to exceed 400 million in five years, he said. In 2012, China became the third largest inbound tourism destination, the largest domestic tourism market and had the highest rate of consumption in the world, statistics say. China's increasing affinity for traveling and shopping holds great appeal to tourism destinations from across the globe and the global summit will provide a platform to discuss more convenient visa policies and flights. David Scowsill, president of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said he is confident about the future of the tourism industries in China and other Asian countries. "It is believed China will replace the United States and become the biggest tourism economy worldwide," he said. "The tourism industry has played a significant role in GDP contribution and job creation." It is believed the tourism industry will create 70 million new jobs by 2023, with 47 million in Asia, he said. He Xiqing, deputy head of Hainan province, said the island provides China a testing ground to improve its tourism industry. Hainan has made great achievements in developing its economy with the tourism industry playing a leading role, she said. Overnight visitors to the island increased from 22.5 million in 2009 to 33.2 million in 2012, a 13.8 percent increase, while revenue from tourism in the province rose from 21.1 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) in 2009 to 37.9 billion yuan in 2012, an increase of 21.4 percent, she said. The province has received 25.31 million visits during the first three quarters this year, with total revenue reaching 26.65 billion yuan.

Beijing airport set to become world's busiest (By Michael Barris in New York michaelbarris@chinadailyusa.com) China is taking another title away from the United States. By next year, Beijing Capital International Airport will rank as the world's busiest passenger airport, ending the 13-year reign of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to a report from the Global Business Travel Association. "In 2012, Atlanta serviced 92 million passengers and Beijing 82 million. The relative growth in the two markets suggests that Beijing International will surpass Atlanta by 2014,"Joe Bates, the association's vice president of research, told China Daily in an interview. In a release Thursday, the Virginia-based travel association said China is "growing its business travel market faster than any other nation, and continues to close the gap on the US as the largest business travel economy in the world." Beijing's displacing Atlanta as the world's busiest airport marks the latest changing of the guard in the global marketplace. With total spending on Chinese-originated business travel expected to grow a weaker than expected 14.3 percent this year and 17.2 percent next year – more than double the US rate – China is expected to overtake the US as the world's dominant business-travel market by 2016. It overtook the US as the world's largest automotive market in 2009 and is poised to replace the US as the world's largest economy by the end of this decade. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International has been the world's busiest airport in terms of passenger volume since 2000. The primary hub of Delta Air Lines, last year it had a 3.4 percent increase in number of passengers over 2011, according to Airports Council International, the worldwide association of airports. Beijing Capital International Airport, Asia's busiest airport since 2009, came in second with a 4.1 percent increase, according to the traffic report. Bates said Beijing's rise into the world's busiest airport tells "a story of growth". "Both business and leisure travel – outbound and inbound – are outpacing the developed world,"the travel association researcher said. "It's a sign that China's business-travel market continues to move ahead but will be challenged by infrastructure constraints". The travel association, which predicts business-travel trends by tracking spending and other metrics, cut its 2013 outlook for total China business travel, citing the "protracted slowdown"in China's key trading markets in North America and Europe". China's economy also is slowing amid the nation's embrace of a consumption-driven rather than export- and investment-driven economy. Even so, the travel association expects the Chinese economy to remain "a robust engine for economic growth at home and abroad", even though its growth sources are experiencing "dramatic change". And "that means the outlook for business travel remains positive,"the association said.