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

The Lexington Collection of Hotels, Plaza Hotels, and Resorts Worldwide has opened the Lexington Plaza Zhuhai Zobon Hotel. The Lexington Plaza Zhuhai Zobon Hotel starts life with a five star rating by the Chinese National Tourism Bureau.

Located in Middle Lover’s Road — that appears to be a literal translation — in Zhuai province, the new hotel has 157 rooms.

It is unique with a black façade, which represents the contemporary architectural style of the region. It covers 16,000 square meters of prime real estate and has a 12-story structure and annex. There is, but of course, a health club and a beautiful indoor swimming pool.

The Lexington Plaza Zhuhai Zobon Hotel is a two-minute drive to Jiuzhou Port and 45 minutes to Zhuhai Airport, an hour from Hong Kong and Shenzhen and ten minutes to the island of Macau by ferry.
Source: Hotel Executive

It seems likely that with the easing of tensions between the mainland and Taiwan then we can look forward to something of a tourist boom. Hoteliers and guides and restaurants plainly think this is a good thing.

However, the prospect of a mainland tourist invasion has not been view throughout with unalloyed delight.

Skeptics say only a few privileged businesses would benefit, and that the island’s scenic spots could be spoiled by greedy developers and a tourist stampede.

Long off-limits to the mainland Taiwan is now popular among mainland tourists for its scenery, preservation of Chinese tradition and for historical sites.

Chinese tourists were first officially admitted to Taiwan in 2002. But visits are capped at 1,000 a day, and tourists must travel to the island via third locations because of restrictions on direct cross-strait flights.

If Ma Ying-jeou, the president-elect, (seen looking dashing in our illustration) has his way, that will change.

Ma, who takes office on May 20, has promised to reach an agreement on more Chinese tourists and weekend cross-strait charter flights by early July, expanding to weekday charters by the end of the year and regularly scheduled flights by summer 2009. All this is part of his election pledge to stimulate the island’s laggard economy with closer cross-strait economic ties.

Under the plan, the cap would be tripled to 3,000 Chinese tourists a day, or more than 1 million per year. Last year, 320,169 mainlanders visited Taiwan, only 81,900 of whom officially came as tourists. The rest were listed as business travelers or ‘others.’

In a few years, Ma hopes, the cap could rise to 10,000 tourist visits per day.

Tourist revenues will have benefits throughout the economy, he says, especially helping lower- and middle-income Taiwanese in the service sector.

The investment bank CLSA estimates that if 1 million Chinese tourists visit Taiwan each year they will spend $1.3 billion, and help boost GDP by up to 1.4% of 2007 levels.

Not everyone has such a rosy view. Some point out that the economic benefits will not be spread around, because Chinese tend to travel to Taiwan in regimented tour groups that only stop at contracted businesses.
Source: NewsWire

The Tibet regional government rejected reports it has abandoned a plan to reopen the region to foreign tourists on May 1, saying it ‘will open soon’, without giving a specific date.The information office of the regional government said: ‘The Tibet tourism bureau is doing its utmost to prepare for the reopening of all scenic spots.’

It has been suggested the region will reopen to foreign and domestic tourists on May 1, a national holiday. A newspaper in Zhengzhou, Henan province, reported that train tickets to Lhasa have already sold out.

Authorities in Diqing Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province, said last week the region had now reopened to foreign travelers.
Source: China Daily

The idea that Beijing needs to invest in cultural tourism is, on the face of it, ludicrous. Almost by definition Beijing IS cultural tourism.

However, although the city has been in a turmoil for what appears to be years as it prepares it cultural treasures for the throngs who will come to the Olympics, Beijing also plans to invest in a number of sites that are significant in the cultural tourism sector.

Ahead of the Olympic Games this year, the city will redevelop a number of popular visitor locations, including Tianning Temple.

The three major Shijingshan monuments — Charitable Temple, Fahai Temple and Cheng’en Temple — as well as Western city’s Huoshen Temple will also be given a refurbishment.

Kong Fanzhi, secretary of the Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau, said the plans represent the continuation of a trend that has been sustained in China in recent years,

People’s Daily Online reports,’In the past eight years, Beijing has improved over 139 ancient buildings and 106 recently opened sites or expanded monuments, including the Wangshou Temple, Ji Xiaolan home, and the emperors’ temple.’

This year’s development plans will deal with 31 sites across Beijing at a cost of RMB120 million across the city.

Wrong, perhaps, at the time time to suggest it, but there is a medical condition called Stendhal’s Syndrome which has been identified and has been attributed to too much culture in too small a time.

Perhaps Beijing should advertise itself as the city worth many trips.
Source: Opodo

In England the Daily Telegraph reports The Bund, Shanghai’s much-photographed historic waterfront, is to get a radical face-lift.

The 100-year-old Waibaidu steel bridge across Suzhou Creek is to be removed, renovated and then replaced.

The city’s government has begun a £280 million scheme to divert the motorway that separates the Bund’s neo-classical buildings from the Huangpu river into a tunnel, and demolish the flyover that disfigures the view.

The government wants the work finished by the time Shanghai hosts the 2010 World Expo.

Thirty of the buildings have protected status, while the renovation of the bridge will turn attention to the Astor House Hotel and Shanghai Mansions, Art Deco haunts of the city’s pre-war glitterati.

It is that last sentence that attracts the attention. The Astor House Hotel is one of the city’s neglected treasures and a fair bet will be that it will be restored to it former glory and, sadly, the prices will zoom up to reflect this. A price worth paying for the Astor is part of the history of Shanghai. Consider:

It was the first modern hotel in China’s history, which hosted many celebrities from all over the world.
The hotel lit the first electric lamps in China on July 26, 1882.
In the same year, 1882, came the earliest performances of the circuses from Western countries.
In 1901 the first phone call was made from the Astor.
The first Yellow Pages in the city listed the number of the Astor House Hotel ‘200,’ the first phone used in Shanghai.
On November 5, 1897, a grand dancing party was held in the hotel to celebrate the 60th birthday of the Dowager Empress Cixi.
In December 19, 1990, the first stock exchange in China after 1949 was started at the hotel.

And the guest list is just as remarkable. In 1897, former American President Ulysses S. Grant. In 1920, English philosopher Bertrand Russell. In 1922, Alfred Einstein. 1931 and 1936, Charlie Chaplin.

It was originally called the Richard Hotel, after the American sea captain of the same name who was its first owner.

In 1860, the hotel was sold to Henry Smith, who changed the name to the Astor House Hotel.

1927, an eight-year-old girl named Peggy Hookham came to live at the Astor House with her family. Hookham’s father was the chief engineer for British American Tobacco and while she was here, the little girl continued her ballet lessons, studying with the Russian teacher George Goncharev. She later became Margot Fonteyn.

In 1923, the Astor House Hotel and other Shanghai hotels (including the Palace Hotel) were acquired by Hong Kong Hotels Ltd, making them Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd.

Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels were owned by the Kadoories, a Sephardic Jewish family that grew to become one of Shanghai’s wealthiest. And went on to open other stylish hotels including the Peninsula in Hong Kong.

The Astor Hotel is crying out to be restored to its former glory. It must happen. And before 2010 when the world arrives for Expo 2010.
Source: Pujang Hotel and a lot of research

Well-known female Chinese folk singer, Wan Shanhong sings a song dedicated to Jiuzhaigou at the opening ceremony of the 4th Jiuzhaigou Ice Waterfall Tourism Festival at the foot of iced Pearl Shoals Waterfalls.

Jiuzhaigou in the winter becomes a fairyland of glittering and translucent ice waterfalls, snow-caped mountains and sapphire lakes covered in white.

This festival will last until March 31, 2008. Located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Region in southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, Jiuzhaigou is reputed in China as the Heaven on earth and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.
Source: China View

The Sino-U.S. memorandum of understanding (MOU) on tourism means that Chinese will be able to travel to the United States in groups on tourist visas. Currently, the United States issues only business visas to Chinese. The travel business expects a surge of travel.

A manager with China International Travel Service (CITS), China’s biggest travel service, said, ‘Everything will be in place only when we know how the MOU will be implemented. Some U.S. travel agencies are coming to us as well.’

Most travel agencies interviewed plan to promote tours linking Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego and Hawaii, at an average cost of RMB25,000 yuan (US$3,351) per person.

Liu Yanwen, manager of U.S. section in China Travel Service (CTS), China’s second largest travel service, said, ‘Although very inviting, the U.S. tour will keep some potential travelers away because of the tight visa interview procedure and the comparatively high expense.’

The European Union does not require visa interviews for tourists in groups. A tour covering 12 European countries costs about RMB16,000 yuan (US$2,162).

And Liu Yanwen said the transport costs in Europe are also lower than those in the United States.

She said, ‘Many Chinese people are curious about America as they are already familiar with it through Hollywood movies. So I am quite optimistic about the U.S. travel market.’

Source: People’s Daily Online

An official said reports of Beijing hotels ramping up prices for next year’s Olympic Games are based on a misunderstanding of Chinese negotiating techniques.

Local media reports in the first half of this year said hotels in the Chinese capital were charging up to 10 times their usual rates for next August.

Penny Xiang, deputy director of Games Services for Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) said, ‘It is a game between the hotel owners and the market. The reason is that there were many enquiries at that time, which released a signal that the market demand was extremely high.’

Penny Xiang said the exorbitant rates are mainly a sales strategy of the hotels and reasonable deals were available if buyers kept haggling.

She said, ‘As far as I know there are not many hotels that have actually signed contracts with clients, and those that have signed contracts are actually not at very high price.

‘The Chinese way of dealing with something we’re not sure about is to wait and see, especially when many hotel owners thought they could get a better price next year.’

But city officials and Olympics organizers contributed to the rush for hotel rooms earlier this year by urging visitors to book early in order to guarantee a room.

Penny Xiang said the Organising Committee had already booked 70% or more of the rooms in 122 top-ranked hotels closest to the Olympics venues. Those rooms are reserved for visiting Olympics officials, sponsoring companies and the media.

For all of the remaining hotel rooms Penny Xiang said that she was confident the market would settle down closer to the time the Games begin.

She said, ‘When the demand and supply reach a balance, it will not be possible to keep demanding such high prices.’

Beijing is expecting 500,000 foreign visitors and more than a million domestic tourists in a daily flow of about 280,000 during the Games.
Source: Washington Post

Shanghai is awaiting approval of mainland China’s first Disneyland, and the theme park could be (this is far from definite) built on an island in the Yangtze River

A Shanghai city spokeswoman, who like many Chinese officials refused to give her name, said Shanghai was waiting for approval of the project by the central government. She would not comment further.

Walt Disney, which has set up office in Shanghai, has repeatedly emphasized that for now it is focusing on developing its theme park in Hong Kong, which opened in 2005 and, in truth, is not doing nearly as well as Disney would wish..

Disney Asia-Pacific spokeswoman Alannah Goss said, ‘China is a priority for the entire company. We have a continuing dialogue about a variety of Disney initiatives, including television, motion pictures and consumer products, of which theme parks are only a part.’

Perhaps. Possibly. Maybe.

The state-run magazine Oriental Outlook said in this week’s online edition residents have been moved off farmland in Chuansha, a part of Shanghai’s Pudong district near the city’s main international airport, to make way for a 6-square-kilometer tract along the city’s airport expressway.

The magazine quoted local economic committee official Qian Weizhong as saying, ‘Once we have central government approval and a concrete plan and Shanghai Disneyland can begin construction right away.’

The park would be built after 2010.

But will it make money? Probably not at the prices Disney likes to charge. Hong Kong Disneyland charges between US$37-$45 a ticket. So the people instead go to Ocean Park which is enjoying the highest attendance in its 30-year history. And you do not have to take the ferry to get there.

It’s about to get worse for HK Disneyland because nearly half of all visitors come from the mainland. Open a Disneyland on the mainland and you have lost a lot of visitors.
Source: The China Post