Wang Zhifa, National Tourist Administration (NTA) deputy director, said China’s tourism market has become a magnet for international investment, raising about RMB150 billion ($21.8 billion) annually over the past few years.

He added, ‘Some high-end international tourism products have made their way into the Chinese market, such as port calls by luxury liners and booming business for limousine and yacht rentals.’

Despite this he said the country still faced great hurdles even though it was poised to become the world’s largest tourist destination by 2015.

He said the industry still lacked large companies to take a leadership position in comprehensive tourist development.

He added public service in tourism, from tourist consultation to toilets in scenic spots, had been substantially improved.

Wang said the NTA had given project approval to five-star hotels on a monthly basis, and more project applications were on the waiting list. Tianjin, for example, had a total of 45 five-star hotel projects planned between now and 2010. This would draw investment of up to RMB83.8 billion.

Last year, the country welcomed 54.7 million inbound overnight tourists putting at fourth position in the world tourism stakes.
Source: China View

Japanese overseas bookings will decline for a second year on rising fuel costs and a worsening economic outlook according to the Japanese Travel Bureau,

Travel abroad may fall 7% to 2.25 million trips. Tourism to China will fall 37% as compared to Japanese visits within Asia which may decline about 12% to 1.14 million.

JTB said, ‘With consumer prices rising, concerns about the economy and higher fuel surcharges, demand for summer family travel is likely to be affected. Food, daily products and gasoline prices are rising, causing uncertainty among consumers.’

Will this directly affect China?

If there are only 1.14 million visits to China then a drop of even 37% is not of immediate concern. But it is a straw in the wind and if other countries react in the same way is a worry.

A family of four traveling to China would pay about 900,000 yen ($842) in fuel surcharges, doubled from last year. (The illustration is Hello Kitty, the official emblem of Japan tourism. He is waving goodbye.)
Source: Bloomberg

Beijing’s summer tourism season has been slow, and hotels and travel agencies say many potential visitors are being put off by tightened visa rules and scarce tickets to Olympic events.

Anthony Ha, general manager of the newly opened Marriott Courtyard Beijing Northeast (seen in the illustration) said, ‘We are not full at the moment, and we have rooms to fill. There’s not much time left, and we have a way to go.’

The city’s hotel industry, which has more than doubled its five- and four-star hotels offerings to 160 since Beijing was awarded the Olympics seven years ago.

A report last month from the Beijing Tourism Bureau that showed five-star hotels were 77% booked, and four stars were at 44%.

The average price of a five-star hotel in Beijing ranged from $560 to $1,150 per nightalthough some rates were reported as high as $2,000 per night during the Olympics. The four-star average was $325.

According to the bureau the number of foreign visitors to Beijing in May dropped by 12.5% from a year ago.

The shortfall in visitors coincides with new visa regulations that make it tougher for tourists and business executives to enter China.

Si Cunxia, sales manager of Travel China travel agency said, ‘A lot of the hotels overestimated their occupancy rate for July and August.’
Source: Associated Press

Reports that China’s Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of kung fu and the star of many martial arts films and a major tourist attraction, has set up an online store, seems to be a criticism that it should indulge in such commercialism. Which seems odd given the fact that cathedrals in, say, Britain do almost anything to make money.

The Shaolin temple in Song Shan in Henan Province has set up new web page on the popular Chinese e-commerce site www.taobao.com, offering a range of goods including shoes, tea, T-shirts and slippers.

Enthusiasts can buy a kung fu instruction manual or a pair of ‘environmentally friendly’ chopsticks.

Shaolin Temple’s business ventures include kung fu shows, film production and a reality TV search for the next kung fu star. Its monks also go on world tours to demonstrate feats of agility and balance.
Source: Reuters

China has been restricting foreign visitors from entering the country in the hope of guarding against terrorist threats or unruly visitors who might plot to disrupt the Games, which begin August 8.

The government appears to be approving fewer tourist visas. Business executives say they face new bureaucratic hurdles to visiting the city. And hotels are being asked to give the government detailed information about foreign guests.

The high published rates for Beijing hotels during the summer and difficulty getting Olympic tickets have also dampened expectations, even though many five-star rated hotels say they are fully booked during the Olympics.

For a wide range of hotels, many economists are beginning to doubt whether Beijing will get the kind of windfall it was hoping for during the Games, which analysts had once forecast would bring 500,000 foreign visitors and an extra $4.5 billion in revenue to the city this summer.

Instead, in the weeks leading up to the Olympics, Beijing hotels are struggling to find guests; some large tourist agencies have closed for the summer; people traveling here for seminars and conferences are canceling.

Beijing appears less concerned about being the host of a global party, experts say, and more concerned with making sure no one spoils it.

Qin Gang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a May news conference said, ‘In order to secure a safe environment in Beijing, we will carry the new visa policy for a certain time. This new visa policy is just temporary, not a permanent one.’
Source: International Herald Tribune

There are still plenty of hotel rooms available for the Beijing Olympics. Director of Beijing’s Tourism Bureau Zhang Huiguang (seen in our illustration) says the crunch that was predicted doesn’t seem to be happening.

She said that about 500,000 foreigners were expected for the games which is in line with earlier predications.

She said only 77% of capacity at Beijing’s five-star hotels have been booked during the Aug. 8-24 Olympic Games and the four-star hotel rate is only 44%. And it’s even lower for three-and two-stars.

There seems to be a logical contradiction here. If the numbers of visitors expected comes up to expectations how can the hotels be so under-utilized? Has someone made a miscalculation?

One reason for the low books could, perhaps, be China’s crack down on visa procedures.

This makes it more difficult to plan travel to the Olympics and, essentially, makes it a one stop journey. Another reason, perhaps, is the immense amount of negative publicity caused by the Tibetan demonstrations. Added to which was worldwide continuing reporting on air pollution problems.

Finally, the sheer total cost of seeing the Olympics may have deterred many potential tourists.
Source: The Canadian Press

According to a report issued by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) the annual inbound tourist arrival in China will surpass 163 million in the next three years.

PATA said in the report that China’s tourism industry recorded a staggering growth in the past two decades, and the industry is now worth more than $100 billion a year and creates 90 million jobs nationwide.

Peter de Jong, PATA chief executive officer said , ‘While the overall statistics are undoubtedly impressive, maximising tourism potential is not just about swelling numbers, but it is also about sustainability and even guaranteeing repeat traffic.’

Last year, 132 million overseas tourists visited the country.

What PATA did not say and what Peter de Jong apparently ignored is one simple fact. Whether those growth figures are met depends on the price of oil. Yes, it is daft that the tourism industry should be controlled by such a simple figure but it is true.

As the price of oil increases so will airfares. At the same time there will be a reduction in the number of flights and a lot of el cheapo airlines will go to the wall. The result will be that for a lot of tourists closer destinations will be more attractive. If the price of oil reaches $200 a barrel then these figures will have to revised downwards.

For the tourist industry this, at the moment, is the key figure to watch. It affects every single forward forecast.
Source: China Daily

Forthcoming international events — Olympic Games soon, World Fair in Shanghai in 2010 — means the Chinese tourism industry looks as though it is set to continue to grow for the foreseeable future.

China has not only emerged as an attractive tourist destination but also as a prominent tourist generating country.

China Tourism Industry Analysis (2007-2011), a research report by RNCOS says that in recent years, China has become the world’s fourth largest international tourist hub. The report believes it has has identified the reasons making China a tourism giant in the world.

According to the report, economic growth and reforms are creating favorable conditions for the Chinese tourism industry. But one of the major reasons for the high activity in the tourism industry of China is its accession to the WTO that gave a new direction to the Chinese tourism industry. This has further opened up the country to trade and investment opportunities.

The government is extending its full support and has already adopted several measures to promote the industry on a large scale.

The RNCOS research says growth in international tourism receipts by the industry was 58% up in 2007 over 2006.

The report also provides a forecast on revenue generation and international tourism receipts and more.
Source: Newswire

We keep reporting in these pages new hotels being opened. Who will stay in them? The answer is that, according to a report issued by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the annual inbound tourist arrival in China will surpass 163 million in the next three years. (Note this is only an estimate issued by PATA although it is extremely likely to be achieved.)

The report says that China’s tourism industry recorded a staggering growth in the past two decades, and the industry is now worth more than $100 billion U.S. dollars a year and creates 90 million jobs nationwide.

Peter de Jong, PATA chief executive officer said, ‘While the overall statistics are undoubtedly impressive, maximizing tourism potential is not just about swelling numbers, but it is also about sustainability and even guaranteeing repeat traffic.’

Last year, 132 million overseas tourists visited the country so reaching the figure of 163 million is not too large a stretch to imagine.
Source: China View

True, you would not normally associate the Arabian nights with Hangzhou. Still Muslim Chinese were a strong influence in trade in Huangzhou and several relics linking China to the Arab world exist. These are featured at the Arabian Travel Market 2008. This tourism promotion of Hangzhou made it the first ever Chinese city to aggressively promote tourism within the UAE and in the Middle East.

In fact, Arabian link or no, Hangzhou is a remarkably attractive city. Marco Polo visited Hangzhou in the late 13th century and referred to the city as ‘beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world.’

He called the city Kinsay which simply means ‘capital’ in Chinese (actually Polo used a Persianized version of the word). Although he exaggerated — Marco Polo was not always a teller of the absolute truth — and said the city was over one hundred miles in diameter and had 12,000 stone bridges, still he thought the city remarkable.

He wrote: ‘The number and wealth of the merchants, and the amount of goods that passed through their hands, was so enormous that no man could form a just estimate thereof.’

Which gave Li Hong, Director of Hangzhou Tourism Commission, a running start when, at the Arabian Travel Market, he urged Arab tourists to come to Hangzhou and see for themselves the Phoenix Mosque, one of four ancient Islamic mosques in China built during the Tang Dynasty between 618 and 907 A.D.

Plus the tomb of Bhatia, the Arabian scholar and doctor, who came to the capital of ancient China, Lin-an (now known as Hangzhou) in Southern Song Dynasty, fell in love with the city and settled there spreading Islam in the area dating back to as far as 800 years ago. And as an added benefit more than 700 Lanzhou hand-extended noodle shops selling halal traditional Muslim food and qualified Hangzhou cuisine.

The tourism official said that their participation in the Arabian Travel Market 2008 demonstrated their commitment to a long friendly relation with the UAE, especially Dubai.
Source: MenaFN