China's tourism investment to expand

Having declared tourism a part of its national development strategy, China is seeking billions of dollars worth of investment in everything from budget hotels to golf courses and tourist shopping facilities the China National Tourism Administration Vice Chairman, Zhu Shanzhong, said last week.

Speaking at the annual summit of the World Travel and Tourism Council in Las Vegas between 17 to 19May, Mr Zhu said, China will view the development of world tourism industry with a broader mind and take a more open approach to the sharing of development opportunities that its tourism industry can offer. With sustained and rapid growth of China's national economy and tourism industry, there will be greater demand for investment in tourism projects.

He said that the gradual recovery of global travel and tourism in the aftermath of the financial crisis had demonstrated again its strong capability of resisting crisis.In 2010, China received 55.66 million tourist arrivals, up by 9.4% over 2009. Foreign exchange earnings stood at US$45.8 billion, up by 15.5%. Domestic travellers rose by 10.6% to reach 2.1 billion and generated about US$193.85 billion in revenue, up by 23.5%.

Outbound travellers reached 57.39 million, up by 20.4%. Total tourism revenue nationwide was US$241.5 billion, up by 21.7%, Mr Zhu said.A UN World Tourism Organisation analysis now positions China as the third largest tourism destination and fourth largest source of outbound tourism consumption. It is also on its way to becoming the world's largest domestic travel market.

He noted that in 2009, the Chinese government had issued a report called Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Tourism which was designed to help decision makers fully appreciate the importance of tourism to the national and regional economic and social development.

The report makes it clear that the government should increase investment, provide stronger financial support, relax access to the tourism market, and encourage the participation of non-government capital. This has provided a favourable macro economic policy and industrial environment for investment in tourism, Mr Zhu said.Furthermore, last April, the Chinese government designated 19 May as the National Tourism Day of China which took effect this year.

Said Mr Zhu, As far as we known, China is the only country that has designated its own tourism day. The purpose is to raise people's awareness about tourism, call greater interest and attention from various social sectors to the development of tourism, further improve the environment for the development of tourism, and promote tourism consumption.

We hope that through the National Tourism Day, people will share the fruits of the tourism development and tourism will become an important part of their lives.He said the inclusion of tourism as part of the national development strategy had given it further impetus.

We will combine tourism with culture, sports, countryside development and other fields to expand the reach of tourism. We will promote the integrated development of tourism and the primary industry of agriculture, forestry, husbandry and fishery, with focus put on the development of rural tourism.

We will promote the integrated development of tourism and the secondary industry and drive forward manufacturing of tourism facilities. We will promote the integrated development of tourism and the tertiary industry, in particular the modern service industry, and actively develop new business forms of tourism.All this will bring more opportunities for travel agencies, hotels and tourist attractions, Mr Zhu said.

He added, During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, the total investment in tourism in China was US$274.4 billion. The next five years covered by the 12th Five-Year Plan will be an important period for fast growth of tourism. It is expected that in 2015, the number of domestic travels will reach 3.3 billion and the total revenue of tourism industry will reach US$353.85 billion.

The number of airports in China will increase from the current 175 to over 230. The total length of rapid railway with a speed of over 160 kmph will reach 40,000 km. The Beijing-Shanghai rapid railway with a total investment of US$33.85 billion and a mileage of over 1,300 km has started trial operation and will start operation officially in June if everything goes well.

He said accommodation will remain top priority, especially high-end star-rated business hotels in large and mid-sized cities, tourist hotels in key tourism cities and tourist reception facilities in the central and western regions of China as well as various forms of theme hotels, budget hotels, MICE hotels, and resort hotels.

China also sees sustained, long-term market demand for leisure products such as sea, lake, hot spring and forest, as well as manufacturing of tourist commodities and tourism-related shopping. New opportunities include new tourism products targeted at the medium- and high-end market such as self-driving, yacht, cruise, golf, animation and IT applications, he said.

Source = ttrweekly