Tourism year begins to bear fruit
The 28-member European Union and China will continue to seek deeper cooperation in the tourism and cultural fields on the heels of the success of the EU-China Tourism Year, says a European Parliament official.
Istvan Ujhelyi — a member of the European Parliament and vice-chair of the Transport and Tourism Committee — said the tourism year has led to substantial visitor flows and boosted investments on both sides.
According to a report by the China Tourism Academy, dozens of new flight routes between China and Europe had been launched in the first half of this year.
The number of Chinese travelers to the European continent had soared more than 100 percent in the second quarter of 2018, compared with the same period last year. Europe has become the second-largest overseas destination for Chinese tourists after Asia.
What’s more important is that exchange visits by Chinese and European industry players have been stepped up, Ujhelyi told China Daily during the just concluded Global Tourism Economy Forum held in the Macao Special Administrative Region.
He said the core of the communication is to facilitate
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both sides in planning further cooperation in future.
A number of platforms have been established, including the Europe-China OBOR Culture and Tourism Development Committee, to continue promoting the development of the tourism business after the EU-China Tourism Year.
Ujhelyi recalled having proposed the initiative himself some four years ago, but could not have imagined its launch being jointly announced by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
However, he pointed out that the tourist accommodation capacity of European destinations, including transportation and infrastructure construction, remains a challenge in welcoming more visitors.
“We’ve been working hard to expand the capacity to guarantee sustainable development of the industry. But, it’s also important to protect the tourism resources in these destinations so that their economy can also grow sustainably,” said Ujhelyi.
To deal with the challenge, he said, the European authorities have been advising travel agencies to divert their customers to lesser-known destinations that also offer an excellent experience.
Thus, a new trend is already emerging. Lesser-known destinations in Europe have seen a significant surge in the number of visitors, such as Estonia, which has recorded a 45.3-percent rise in the number of Chinese travelers, while Bulgaria has posted an increase of 43.4 percent, according to a study by flights data specialist Forward Keys and the European Travel Commission.
The core of the communication is to facilitate both sides in planning further cooperation in future.”