From economic researcher to globe-trotting guru

"The first time I traveled abroad was on a business trip to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand when I worked for Beijing International Studies University in 2001," said Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy.

Recalling the trip, Dai gave a shy smile. "Everything I looked at then was novel to me. Outbound tourism was not a popular activity for most Chinese at the time. For me, it was an eye-opening trip," he said.

Having graduated from Anhui University of Finance and Economics with a master's in economics in 1995, Dai was once an economic researcher, rather than a tourism guru.