Singapore-based Abacus International is Asia Pacific’s leading travel facilitator with more than 15,000 agency locations in 24 markets. The company’s President and CEO Don Birch reviewed the potential of the China travel market. He said, ‘The full extent of pending change has not been obvious to the Asian travel industry, because of China’s relative isolation until the last few years and many changes have occurred behind partially closed doors.

‘China-driven travel growth provides an excellent opportunity for forward-thinking private operators, National Tourism Organisations and Governments to work together to plan and invest in infrastructure, and ensure the quality of current and future experiences and attractions through their joint actions.’

As Asia’s major economic power, China has climbed from fifth to fourth place in the World Tourism Organisation’s rankings since 2002, with tourism accounting for over 5% of its GDP in 2005 or 5.5% of the world’s total travel and tourism industry.

Besides generating an expected value of $354 billion of economic activity in 2006, China’s tourism industry has catalysed the country’s development, driving many major infrastructure and transportation initiatives, particularly in Beijing and Shanghai.

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council capital investments in the tourism sector were estimated to be $100 billion in 2006

‘We expect China to be the fastest growing outbound tourism market over the next fifteen years, outpacing even the UK and the US, with more than 110 million trips in 2020. . . . While these figures suggest stratospheric growth and a highly-mobile population, the reality is that currently only 1.3% of the Chinese population travels overseas for leisure.’

Don Birch said, ‘Business travelers are a key market for the estimated 200 new 4-5 star hotel properties in development by major international chains such as InterContinental and Accor, which will be opened within the next three years in various key locations in China. China is slowly growing into a choice destination for MICE events. . . Government investment in infrastructure for events such as the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai will certainly leave a venue legacy that will boost China’s position as a key player in the MICE industry.’
Source: 4 Hoteliers

China is to develop its MICE market where MICE stands for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions. (Do not confuse these MICE with the mice shown in our illustration which are to be used to test the food at the 2008 Olympics.) As China is the third largest business travel market in the world there is a very considerable potential for more MICE.

Two events will help push this ahead.

IT&CM China 2007 will bring 1,500 delegates to INTEX Shanghai. The odd initials stand for Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia and this will be held in Shanghai from 23 to 25 April 2007. It will be selling China to the world and the world to China. The 6,000 square meter venue has enough space for 300 standard booths. At the moment it looks as though this monster cheese trap will bring MICE buyers from 22 countries making it over a thousand delegates.

At the same time there will be CT&TW China 2007. Those initials stand for Corporate Travel and Technology World which you already knew but it had slipped your mind for the moment. That is running at the same time in the Millennium Hongqiao Hotel.

TTG Asia Media managing director Darren Ng said, ‘You can look at both trade events as coming together into China at the most opportune time. Many see IT&CM China 2007 as a golden gateway to cultivate China’s buoyant MICE industry. Similarly, they are a great opportunity for China suppliers to reach local and international MICE buyers.

‘IT&CM China 2007 is indeed the fitting platform to promote China to the world and the world to China.”
Source: eTravelBlackboard and IT&CM China

In just under a month, the ‘golden holiday week’ will be upon us. In an effort to combine culture and tourism, three big resorts in Hainan’s Sanya will hold the first Jazz Festival on Yalong Bay Beach.

The Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa, Sanya Marriott Resort & Spa and Sheraton Sanya Resort are organizing the event which will host local and international jazz bands. All proceeds go to charity.
Source: PR Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa

On March 24, Hilton Hefei welcomed Hong Kong film actress Carina Lau (picture here shaking hands with General Manager Luc Bollen) at the launch of Longines BelleArti collection in Hefei. Lau is an ambassador of the Longines watch brand.

Hilton Hefei opened for business earlier this year and is one of the newest hotels in Anhui’s capital. The 561-room hotel is located in Hefei’s new Railway Business Development Area and is managed through a partnership with Anhui Yuan Yi Hotel Company Ltd.

It houses a huge 6,000 square meter health club and spa and has extensive MICE facilities.
Source: Hilton Hefei

It is intended that this will be a seriously green Olympic Games. All hotels that will house media and others associated with the 2008 Olympic Games have to reach certain environmental standards. According to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympics it they do not meet those standards they will be struck off the list of acceptable Olympic hotels.

Xiang Ping, vice-director of the BOCOG Games Service Department said the organization hopes that the process will be completed by the end of this year. He told a press conference, ‘The hotels that fail to meet the environmental standards will be struck off the list of Olympic hotels.’

At the moment a total of 112 star-rated hotels have been designated as official hotels of the 2008 Games.

BOCOG published a set of standards in 2003 requriing all official hotels of the Games to meet a series of environmental standards in management, energy-saving, pollution prevention as well as in their guest services.

In early 2006 the National Tourism Administration released the LB/T007-2006 industrial standards which covers pretty much the same area and defines the Green Tourist Hotels.

Xiang Ping said, ‘Any hotel that passes the “Green Tourist Hotels” verification standards will be considered as having fulfilled BOCOG’s guidelines, because the two standards are almost the same.’

At least 1,500 mainland hotels had met the green criteria by the end of 2006.
Source: Xinhua

Two hotel connected forums due, one in Shanghai, the other in Beijing.

On April 11 in Shanghai Interval International is organizing the Vacation Ownership Investment Conference (VOIC) at the St Regis Hotel which is shown here. Topics including timesharing, fractional ownership, private residence clubs, and condo-hotels.

Meanwhile IFCOT (International Forum on Chinese Outbound Tourism) will start May 13, 2007, in Beijing. IFCOT has become known as the top conference for the China (PRC) outbound market. This event receives support from PATA, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), China Tourism Association (CTA) and World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

The Great Wall Sheraton Beijing has an Austrian executive chef, Josef Gschwandtner, (pictured right) who will bring his country’s cuisine to the hotel’s Silk Road Trattoria between March 11 and March 17. 

Vienna Backhendel, Tiroler Knoedel and Kaisererschmarren are among the authentic dishes on offer, all to be washed down with a manly-sized tankard of beer, and accompanied by the Folkloric Austrian Musicians.

The 827-room hotel isn’t actually located by the Great Wall as the name suggests, but in the Chaoyang diplomatic district in central Beijing.
Source: PR Great Wall Sheraton Beijing

Following the first of the James Bond films ever to be screened in Chinese cinemas, the cast, producer and director of Casino Royale recently paid a visit to Shanghai where they stayed at Le Royal Meridien.

New James Bond actor, Daniel Craig, and Bond Girl Eva Green, attended a press conference at the hotel followed by the movie’s premiere at Shanghai Film Art Centre.
Source: Le Royal Meridien Shanghai PR

The State Administration of Radio Film and Television has said guests of China’s three-star hotels or above can watch no more than 31 foreign TV channels in hotel rooms as of this year.

The channels are CNN, HBO, Cinemax, CNBC Asia Pacific, MTV Mandari, National Geographic Channel Asia, STAR Movie International, Channel V, AXN, Discovery, Hallmark, BBC World, NHK World Premium, Phoenix Movies, Phoenix Chinese, TVB8, TVB Galaxy, NOW, MASTV Chinese, Phoenix Infonews Channel, Bloomberg, Xing Kong Wei Shi, Euro Sports News, CETV, Horizon Channel, SUNTV, Celestial Movies, Channel NewsAsia, TV5, East TV and Cuba Vision International.

Note this does not include ESPN which is where most Americans turn for sports news. What then of the Olympics?
Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union

Winter, for many hotels, is a peak period. This is especially so in the northern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Heilongjiang was the first province in the country to see the potential of developing its resources as a major winter tourist attraction. Its winter lasts for about four months with heavy snowfalls throughout the period. It has more than 70 ski resorts and 150 ski slopes, accounting for more than 60 percent of China’s winter resort facilities.

Last spring festival Heilongjiang recieved some 3.2 million visitors so that tourism is one of the key drivers of the province’s economic growth.

Harbin, Heilongjiang’s capital, is famous for its annual ice and snow extravaganzas. According to the Heilongjiang Daily Harbin’s hotel occupancy rate during the period last year was more than 80%.
It does ice and snow sculptures in a big, big way. Two sculptures, ‘Crossing the Bering Strait’ and ‘Niagara Falls’ are reported to be 250 meters long and 28 meters high and involve more than 13,000 cubic meters of snow. Application has been made for them to be included as Guinness World Records.

Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province, has introduced from Sweden an international ski competition Vasaloppet China. The event was held at the Jingyuetan Ski Resort.

Liaoning Province is promoting itself as the first stop in Northeast China for enthusiasts of ice and snow sports. The province spent millions of yuan in 2005 to build the Northeast Asia Ski Resort in the Shenyang National Forest Park.

Xinjiang recently held its Silk Road Ice and Snow Festival. Winter tourism earned Xinjiang RMB4.6 billion ($575 million) in 2005.
Source: China Daily