The city of Venice hosted the “EU – China Tourism Year” attended by the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME, Elżbieta Bieńkowska; Minister of Tourism of Bulgaria, and currently the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Nikolina Angelkova; Chinese Vice Minister of Tourism, Du Jiang; and Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism in Italy, Dorina Bianchi.
Venice returns to be the protagonist of an international event of great prestige and is reconfirmed as the capital of culture, cooperation, and relationships. “It opens a year of friendly relations and economic, cultural, and social opportunities” said the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro.
Visas, digital revolution, and deseasonalization
There are many themes on the table of the EU – China Tourism Year, “We must do everything to intercept Chinese tourists, who visit Europe even out of season, said Elżbieta Bieńkowska, underlining how China and Europe share “very deep roots and history”. Starting from Venice, a symbol city for many Chinese tourists because it was the last stop on the Silk Road.
We want to increase investment opportunities and we hope this year to create the conditions to facilitate the issuance of visas.
Co-marketing and goals
The EU – China Tourism Year includes several co-marketing campaigns, financed through public-private partnerships, commercial summits and meetings between tourism companies funded by the Cosme (Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) program.
The EU’s goal is to achieve an annual increase in Chinese visitors by 10%, equal to at least € 1 billion a year for the tourism industry, and to conclude some 200 partnership agreements between Chinese companies and the European Union, taking advantage of the digital revolution in progress.
Among the appointments of the opening day of the Europe-China Tourism Year, also the signing of the cooperation agreement between Mibact and the National Tourism Administration of the People’s Republic of China. Objective: to promote Chinese tourism in Italy through the improvement of reception dedicated to the guidelines of the Chinese authorities, with attention to circuits such as the Borghi, UNESCO sites and rural areas.
“During the Bulgarian EU presidency, we will work to make Europe a global tourism destination, and to increase opportunities for the digital transformation of the sector,” added Nikolina Angelkova, Bulgaria’s tourism minister and current Council chairman of the EU, announcing the organization of six events at European level on the theme of tourism, the first of which will be the summit of the Minister of Tourism of the member countries, on February 13.
The EU – China Tourism Year includes several co-marketing campaigns, funded through public-private partnerships, commercial summits and meetings between tourism companies funded by the Cosme (Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) program.
The EU’s goal is to achieve an annual increase in Chinese visitors by 10%, equal to at least € 1 billion a year for the tourism industry, and to conclude some 200 partnership agreements between Chinese companies and the European Union, taking advantage of the digital revolution in progress.
The tourism potential of China
“China is the largest tourism market in terms of both spending and the number of trips abroad,” said Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Academy, “and, in perspective, factors such as increased income and reduced bureaucracy will always make easier to travel for the Chinese middle class.
In fact, since 2012, China has been leading the ranking as top-spend for international tourism. In 2016, Chinese tourists’ spending on international tourism reached 261 billion dollars, an increase of 12% over the previous year. This growth curve has made China the largest international tourism market globally, higher than the United States ($ 123 billion) and Germany ($ 79 billion). Expenses for Chinese travellers generate about 23% of tourist revenue in destinations around the world “.
“China has been at the top of the numerical rankings for four consecutive years for travelers in the world, and at present, there are 129 million.
The demand for travel in Europe from China is constantly growing, with 12.8 million tourists in 2016 and is estimated to reach 20.8 million a year in 2022. To give an idea of the interest in Europe, North America last year reached 3.1 million admissions of Chinese tourists. The preferred destination in Europe is France, although, considering physical security as one of the basic requirements requested by the Chinese travelers, in 2017 Chinese travelers have moved to destinations such as Italy, considered a safer country, as well as a dream destination, which has reached 1.4 million Chinese tourists and is constantly growing “.
Between 2000 and 2016, Italy ranked third among the destinations of Chinese investors in the old continent, at 12.8 billion euros, behind Great Britain (23.6 billion) and Germany (18. 8 billion). The Italian companies owned by Chinese partners are 509 and invoiced 12.2 billion euros. In 2017,
The city of Venice hosted the “EU – China Tourism Year” attended by the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SME, Elżbieta Bieńkowska; Minister of Tourism of Bulgaria, and currently the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Nikolina Angelkova; Chinese Vice Minister of Tourism, Du Jiang; and Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism in Italy, Dorina Bianchi.
Venice returns to be the protagonist of an international event of great prestige and is reconfirmed as the capital of culture, cooperation, and relationships. “It opens a year of friendly relations and economic, cultural, and social opportunities” said the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro.
Visas, digital revolution, and deseasonalization
There are many themes on the table of the EU – China Tourism Year, “We must do everything to intercept Chinese tourists, who visit Europe even out of season, said Elżbieta Bieńkowska, underlining how China and Europe share “very deep roots and history”. Starting from Venice, a symbol city for many Chinese tourists because it was the last stop on the Silk Road.
We want to increase investment opportunities and we hope this year to create the conditions to facilitate the issuance of visas.
Co-marketing and goals
The EU – China Tourism Year includes several co-marketing campaigns, financed through public-private partnerships, commercial summits and meetings between tourism companies funded by the Cosme (Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) program.
The EU’s goal is to achieve an annual increase in Chinese visitors by 10%, equal to at least € 1 billion a year for the tourism industry, and to conclude some 200 partnership agreements between Chinese companies and the European Union, taking advantage of the digital revolution in progress.
Among the appointments of the opening day of the EU – China Tourism Year, also the signing of the cooperation agreement between Mibact and the National Tourism Administration of the People’s Republic of China. Objective: to promote Chinese tourism in Italy through the improvement of reception dedicated to the guidelines of the Chinese authorities, with attention to circuits such as the Borghi, UNESCO sites and rural areas.
“During the Bulgarian EU presidency, we will work to make Europe a global tourism destination, and to increase opportunities for the digital transformation of the sector,” added Nikolina Angelkova, Bulgaria’s tourism minister and current Council chairman of the EU, announcing the organization of six events at European level on the theme of tourism, the first of which will be the summit of the Minister of Tourism of the member countries, on February 13.
The EU – China Tourism Year includes several co-marketing campaigns, funded through public-private partnerships, commercial summits and meetings between tourism companies funded by the Cosme (Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) program.
The EU’s goal is to achieve an annual increase in Chinese visitors by 10%, equal to at least € billion a year for the tourism industry, and to conclude some 200 partnership agreements between Chinese companies and the European Union, taking advantage of the digital revolution in progress.
The tourism potential of China
“China is the largest tourism market in terms of both spending and the number of trips abroad,” said Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Academy, “and, in perspective, factors such as increased income and reduced bureaucracy will always make easier to travel for the Chinese middle class.
“In fact, since 2012, China has been leading the ranking as top-spend for international tourism. In 2016, Chinese tourists’ spending on international tourism reached 261 billion dollars, an increase of 12% over the previous year. This growth curve has made China the largest international tourism market globally, higher than the United States ($ 123 billion) and Germany ($ 79 billion). Expenses for Chinese travellers generate about 23% of tourist revenue in destinations around the world.
“China has been at the top of the numerical rankings for four consecutive years for travelers in the world, and at present, there are 129 million.
“The demand for travel in Europe from China is constantly growing, with 12.8 million tourists in 2016 and is estimated to reach 20.8 million a year in 2022. To give an idea of the interest in Europe, North America last year reached 3.1 million admissions of Chinese tourists. The preferred destination in Europe is France, although, considering physical security as one of the basic requirements requested by the Chinese travelers, in 2017 Chinese travelers have moved to destinations such as Italy, considered a safer country, as well as a dream destination, which has reached 1.4 million Chinese tourists and is constantly growing.”
Between 2000 and 2016, Italy ranked third among the destinations of Chinese investors in the old continent, at 12.8 billion euros, behind Great Britain (23.6 billion) and Germany (18. 8 billion). The Italian companies owned by Chinese partners are 509 and invoiced 12.2 billion euros.
Welcome Chinese role key
And for Europe to become the best global destination for Chinese tourists, the European Commission and the European Travel Commission have created a promotional platform for 2018 as the EU – China Tourism Year.
Strategic partner for the organization of all promotional events will be Welcome Chinese, the only official certification recognized by the Chinese government, dedicated to the hospitality of the Chinese traveling, issued by the China Tourism Academy in collaboration with China Central Television (Cctv), national television network, China UnionPay, the only credit card circuit issued in China.
And for Europe to become the best global destination for Chinese tourists, the European Commission and the European Travel Commission have created a promotional platform for 2018 as the Year of Europe-China Tourism.
Strategic partner for the organization of all promotional events will be Welcome Chinese, the only official certification recognized by the Chinese government, dedicated to the hospitality of the Chinese traveling, issued by the China Tourism Academy in collaboration with China Central Television (Cctv), national television network, China UnionPay, the only credit card circuit issued in China.
