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Tourism business booms with big market
By Cao Min (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-11-25 09:03
As one of the fastest growing and most intriguing tourism destinations in the
world, China is becoming a magnet for travel-related businesses.
Nearly 2,900 such overseas and domestic enterprises gathered in Shanghai
yesterday to attend the 2004 China International Travel Mart (CITM), a jump of
16 per cent from 2002. The CITM shifts annually between Shanghai and Kunming.
The mart has been held five times, three times in Shanghai and twice in
Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province.
This year there are 1,196 domestic booths and 652 international booths, up 65
per cent and 35 per cent over last session, said Shen Huirong, director of the
Tourism Promotion and International Liaison Department of the China National
Tourism Administration (CNTA).
"CITM has become the largest international tourism fair in Asia with high
professional standards and the most widespread global influence," Shen said.
Tourism was among the pioneering industries which opened up to the outside
world. In July 2003, The CNTA approved the first foreign owned travel service in
China.
Now there are five totally foreign-owned travel services and 13 joint-venture
travel services in the country.
Meanwhile, the CNTA has also encouraged China's tourism firms "to go abroad"
to expand their business and co-operation in other countries. By the end of this
year, Chinese tourists travelled in tour groups to 63 countries and regions with
Approved Destination Status, Shen said.
Speaking at the opening ceremony yesterday, He Guangwei, chairman of the
CNTA, said the five-day mart would play a key role in promoting in-depth
communication and friendly co-operation between China and other countries and
regions.
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