ASEAN Tourism and China will be able to strengthen their ties at the
China International Travel Mart (CITM) in Shanghai, 15-18 November 2012.
The China National Tourism
Administration (CNTA) has provided ASEAN with two booths to boost bilateral
tourism relations. ASEAN is keen to increase the number of Chinese visitors to
the region as China's economy continues to grow the fastest in Asia Pacific.
According to the UNWTO's World
Tourism Barometer report on the first half of 2012, ASEAN countries are some of
the fastest growing tourism destinations in the world, with international
visitor arrivals into Myanmar up 36%, Cambodia 26%, Singapore 12%, Philippines
12%, Vietnam 11%, and Thailand 8%.
China continues to be the biggest
or fastest growing contributor of international visitor arrivals to most of
those destinations.
The UNWTO reported that Southeast
Asia as a region showed a 9% increase in arrivals compared to 4% for Europe, 5%
for America, and 7% for Africa.
Specifically, between China and
Southeast Asia, ASEAN Secretariat statistics show that Chinese tourists
visiting ASEAN increased from 3.9 million in 2007 to 7.3 million in 2011. The
annual rate of increase accelerated from 6.3% to 9% in the same period. With
further implementation of the November 2010 ASEAN-China Air Transport
Agreement, Chinese and ASEAN officials expect the rate of increase to grow
faster.
"The latest forecasts we
have are that China's contribution to ASEAN's international visitor arrivals
will continue at an accelerated rate," said Mr. Ma Mingqiang,
Secretary-General of the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) in Beijing.
China has caught up with the
European Union as the biggest supplier of tourists to ASEAN. China and Europe
now each supply around 9% of ASEAN's total international visitor arrivals.
At CITM the ASEAN nations of
Southeast Asia will emphasize the region's proximity to China, increasing low
cost carrier links and an abundance of new travel products suitable for China's
emerging middle classes.
To make the point, ASEAN Tourism
will launch a dedicated Chinese language website in January 2013. ASEAN in
cooperation with the ASEAN-China Centre, will also feature Southeast Asian
tourism content on SinaWeibo, one of China's largest social media platforms.
While Chinese visitors have
frequented ASEAN's cities, shopping malls and theme parks for years, ASEAN
beach resorts now see a clear demand from a younger Chinese demographic for
beach holidays, formerly the reserve of Western tourists and more recently
Japanese and Korean travellers.
During CITM, ASEAN Tourism
representatives will also promote the ASEAN Tourism Forum, which takes place in
Vientiane, Laos, 17-24 January 2013. Some 1,600 delegates including 150 ASEAN
tourism ministers and officials, 800 ASEAN exhibitors, 400 international
buyers, 150 international and local media and about 100 travel trade visitors
are expected to attend.
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