EU, China cheek by jowl driving tourism
Travel business gets a shot in the arm with innovation ‘changing the game’
The European Union — the official regional partner of the 2018 Global Tourism Economy Forum — is embracing the opportunities and challenges in the European Union-China tourism landscape as bilateral tourism ties warm up.
“There’s a Chinese saying: A single conversation with a wise man is worth a month’s study of books,” says Eric Philippart, the European Commission’s special counselor for EU-China Tourism Year 2018.
He sees the GTEF as an exciting place that has brought together so many influential and experienced policymakers, business leaders, experts and academics to reflect on the policies in terms of the challenges and opportunities emerging in the tourism industry.
The EU-China Tourism Year, backed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in 2016, is designed to strengthen commercial and cultural exchanges between China and the European bloc.
“So far, the EU-China Tourism Year has been a great success. We’ve worked hand in hand with the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism to help businesses and people on both sides,” said Antti Peltomaki, EU assistant minister for the internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission.
Major Chinese and European companies have been working together for many years, but the EU-China Tourism Year is a real opportunity for smaller, but innovative enterprises to cooperate with each other, Philippart told China Daily.
To date, seven business-tobusiness matchmaking events tailored to small and mediumsized enterprises have been organized and more than 67 percent of the participants said the meetings have had a positive impact on their operations, according to the EU.
“The EU and China are two major players in the field of tourism today and in future,” Philippart told China Daily.
The use of economical, longhaul carriers, he pointed out, is the most important change between China and European countries. It makes EU-China tourism — representing a tour of a better place to live in and visit — no longer a distant dream.
Innovation has served as China’s main channel in driving tourism, and also acts as an engine for the EU’s economy, Philippart said. The EU, at present, has seven big programs to support innovation, including the tourism sector.
“The digital revolution is already changing the game,” he said.
For example, smartphones, intelligence translation, online helplines and many other applications and mini programs on the WeChat platform now allow tourists from the EU and China to get to their destinations much faster and in a seamless way, he said. However, it could pose a challenge for the industry.
Philippart quoted a saying from Jean Monnet — one of the EU’s founding fathers — that “nothing gets down without the people, but nothing lasts without the institution” to describe the current collaboration between China and the European bloc in developing the tourism industry and taking it forward.