ICTP shares global tourism vision of China Business Networks

HAWAII, USA; BRUSSELS, Belgium; VICTORIA, Seychelles; BALI, Indonesia – Addressing the China Tourism Forum during FITUR Travel Fair, the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) President, P

HAWAII, USA; BRUSSELS, Belgium; VICTORIA, Seychelles; BALI, Indonesia – Addressing the China Tourism Forum during FITUR Travel Fair, the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) President, Professor Geoffrey Lipman, said that โ€œChinaโ€™s commitment to make tourism a consumption-lead industry and a pillar of the economy was incredibly significant.โ€

He added that Africa will be one of the great beneficiaries as win-win trade deals for resources intensify in the next decade and Chinese outbound travelers โ€“ business and leisure – discover the beauties of Africa.โ€ He added that โ€œthe great hubs being built in the Gulf, with world leading airlines, mega airports, and modern transit centers will become the new connectivity centers of the BRICS-driven trade flows.โ€

Lipman predicted that in the second half of the current decade China will have become the largest inbound, outbound, and domestic market. Already travel and tourism within China is more than double global international arrivals. And this internal market with more than 5,000 years of civilization, history, and heritage is an incubator for a next generation of Internet savvy, smart, well-educated Chinese travelers, with tourism as a primary discretionary spending focus.

He also noted that despite its late start, China was serious about its green growth transformation, and he underscored the fact that travel and tourism must now step up to the plate and become a lead sector in this evolution as well.

In a subsequent intervention at Investour – attended by several African Ministers of Tourism – Professor Lipman suggested that the next phase of African development will see far greater investment from non-traditional sources, given the anticipated global austerity regimes in place for the foreseeable future. He noted that Chinese companies were very active in port and stadia construction and anticipated more investment from this source in superhighways, fast trains, modern airports, national parks, and cruise docks, over the next decade.

Chinese travelers will be an integral part of the trade flows, providing a serious boost to exports and jobs across the continent.

He said that African countries should commit firmly to green growth and ensure that their travelism resources โ€“ across the supply and demand networks โ€“ were able to get preferential access to the massive climate adaptation funds that would come into play.

Last but not least he talked about the new developments in Internet-based impact funding, committing that ICTP would work closely with GateTrip [ www.gatetrip.com ] to make this rapidly-evolving phenomenon of โ€œcrowdfundingโ€ available to tourism destinations โ€“ with Africa as a primary point of focus.

During the fair, ICTP and the China Business Network (CBN) reached an agreement to extend collaboration to provide support, advice, and seminars to Destination Council Members of ICTP on winning and satisfying Chinese travelers, as well as to develop a similar program for tourism communities in China receiving foreign visitors.

Adam Wu, Chief Operating Officer of CBN, said: โ€œWe are very excited to partner with ICTP to strengthen our mission โ€˜Bring the World to China and Take Chinese to the World.โ€™ While we are already building a solid partnership for promotion of this two-way trade and social giant, we are particularly happy to extend this cooperation to Chinaโ€™s outwards investment which is one of the bipolar focuses of CBN. And we share ICTPโ€™s vision of the deepening of the China/Africa links where we are already helping many African Investment Promotion Agencies in showcasing their destinations in China.โ€

Lipman added, โ€œICTP shares fully CBNโ€™s global vision of the positive force of China tourism and travel as a socio-economic driver – particularly for powering investment in the sector, its supply chain, and its infrastructure.โ€

ABOUT CBN

CBN China Business Network (CBN) is a consortium of organizations specializing in business consultancy and targeted marketing services for large numbers of Chinese and foreign authorities, businesses, as well as other organizations. Among its many activities CBN Overseas Office focuses on providing foreign businesses with expert consulting services and effective marketing activities in China while supporting many groups of officials, investors, and business executives going abroad to invest, finding business partners, attending exhibitions, or simply for incentive travel overseas.

ABOUT ICTP

The International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) is a grassroots travel and tourism coalition of global destinations committed to quality service and green growth. ICTP engages communities and their stakeholders to share quality and green opportunities including tools and resources, access to funding, education, and marketing support. ICTP advocates sustainable aviation growth, streamlined travel formalities, fair coherent taxation, and investments for jobs. ICTP supports the UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN World Tourism Organization’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and a range of programs that underpin them. ICTP has over 100 destination members, including: Anguilla; Aruba; Australia; Bangladesh; Belgium, Belize; Brazil; Canada; Caribbean; China; Croatia; Cyprus; Ecuador; Egypt; Falkland Islands; (The) Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Greece; Grenada; India; Indonesia; Iran; Italy; Jordan; Kenya; Korea (South); La Reunion (French Indian Ocean); Malawi; Malaysia; Mauritius; Mexico; Morocco; (The) Netherlands; Nicaragua; Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands (USA Pacific Island Territory); Romania; Sultanate of Oman; Pakistan; Palestine; Philippines; Portugal; Rwanda; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Sri Lanka; St. Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean); St. Kitts; St. Lucia; Sudan; Swaziland; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Trinidad & Tobago; UAE; Uganda; USA; Yemen; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.

For more information, go to: www.tourismpartners.org .

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Share to...