Shanghai
The municipal government of Shanghai, China’s financial and business center, recently said it aims to turn the city into a world-famous tourist city during the 12th Five Year Plan period from 2011 to 2015, making tourism a strategic pillar sector and a modern service industry. The government said it plans to invest more than CNY40 billion into 13 key tourism projects, including the Disneyland project. Local authorities said it has set a growth target of 70% in tourism revenues over the five years to 2015. Tourism revenues are expected to increase to CNY520 billion by 2015.The tourism industry is expected to create 300,000 jobs and contribute 8.5% to the city’s gross domestic product by 2015. By 2015, Shanghai plans to attract domestic 240 million visitors.
Berlin
The largest and importants Tourism Exhibition in the world, the ITB 2011, will be held from 8th.-13th.of march in Berlin, Germany. Many executives from the Chinese Tourism industry are attend to promote their country and their products, p.e.:
Ass. GM XIE WEI JEI and his Director of Sales, Derek Lin, from White Swan Hotel, Guangzhou, will promote the hotel to the worldmarket
24 Students and Prof. Luo from the Sun Yat Sen University Guangzhou, will explore Germany and the ITB to learn more about the international Tourism.
Dr. Kuang from Cantonfairs will promote his service
A team of the Lingnan Group and the Garden Hotel Guangzhou is travelling to Berlin to promote the group.
Tourism-Insider has a stand at the ITB Cinema in Hall 7.2.a
ICTM The International Council of Tourism Media , has a stand at the ITB Cinema with President Jutta Sein and General Secretary Joachim Fischer.
Qingdao
The municipal government of Qingdao has said that it plans to develop island tours and related tourism products. The government plan include turning six nearby islands — Lingshan, Zhucha, Zhaitang, Tianheng, Daguan, and Xiaoguan — into resorts, and building hotels on them. The government will also focus on protecting those islands’ environment and ecological systems. In addition, they will bring in investments and large enterprises to develop the six islands. Qingdao’s coastline is 730.6 kilometers long and accounts for a quarter of Shandong Province’s total coastal area, encompassing 32 bays and 69 islands.
All China
GreenTree Inn, an American-funded budget hotel chain based in China, has announced plans to increase the number of its properties to over 1,000 by the end of November 2012. At the same time the company will expand its employee base to more than 30,000. Xu Shuguang, the chairman of GreemTree Inn, said it is the right time for the company to develop fast, as the country’s urban modernization speeds up, and as disposable personal income increases, more people want to travel. Xu added that in the next few decades the whole industry will develop rapidly and the company will be able to benefit from this. The company will expand investments and accelerate business expansion, maintaining the stable and long-lasting growth of the group.
Germany
Air China Limited will launch a new service between Beijing and Dusseldorf in Germany from March 27, 2011. This is the third direct flight to Germany by Air China following two other routes to Frankfurt and Munich. This new service will allow more Chinese tourists to travel to Dusseldorf more conveniently, promoting the development of the tourism market. Dusseldorf is a Germany city famous for its culture, and the number of tourism exchanges with China has been increasing steadily over the past few years. This new route will have three flights each week on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Shanghai
Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hospitality company, is scheduled to open its first hotel in the Asia Pacific region at the Himalayas Centre in Pudong, Shanghai in the first quarter of 2011. The five-star Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel Shanghai will feature 402 contemporary Chinese styled guestrooms and suites, three restaurants and lounges, plus a 24-hour Fitness Centre and indoor swimming pool. Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel is part of the Himalayas Centre, a new arts and cultural hub that include the 1,100-seat DaGuan Theatre, the Himalayas Art Museum, a luxury brand mall and a 5,000-square-meter rooftop infinity garden. Located in the heart of Pudong, the hotel is directly opposite the Shanghai New International Expo Centre and close to Century Park. Metro line 7 is accessed directly from the basement of the Himalayas Centre, allowing easy citywide connections. The Maglev railway station is just a short walk away for high-speed transfers to and from Pudong International Airport. Capitalizing on its position next to SNIEC, Shanghai’s largest exhibitions venue, Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel features 1,939 square meters of meeting and conference venues. The 864 square meter column-free grand ballroom has 12-meter-high ceilings — the highest in Shanghai — and can host cocktail parties and conferences for up to 800 guests. A second ballroom and seven multi-functional meeting rooms cater to between 20 and 350 guests and are equipped with high-tech audio-visual equipment, complimentary high-speed Internet and abundant natural light.
Beijing
The municipal government of Beijing recently announced that that it is planning to start construction of a new airport in 2011. The new airport will be the city’s second airport, and is expected to help ease the traffic pressure on Beijing Capital International Airport. It will also expected to help turn the Chinese capital into an Asian aviation hub. According to a five-year Beijing economic plan, the new airport will be located in southern Beijing and be able to handle 40 million passengers a year. The first phase of the construction is expected to complete in 2015. The combined passenger capacity of Beijing’s two airports is expected to exceed 120 million in 2015 of Beijing Capital Airport is expected to handle more than 80 million passengers this year.
Beijing – Shanghai
The Beijing to Shanghai High-Speed Railway is scheduled to begin operation in the middle of June 2011, one year ahead of its original schedule — according to a recent announcement by the minister of railways, Liu Zhijun. Construction started on the 1,318-kilometer railway in April 2008 and it will cut the journey time between the two cities from the current 10 hours to less than five hours. Liu said that a new-generation bullet train, with a speed of 380 km per hour will run on the high-speed rail link. The railway will be able to transport 80 million passengers a year. With a total investment of CNY220.9 billion, the Beijing to Shanghai High-Speed Railway is expected to put competitive pressure on the airlines that serve this route.
Guangzhou
The annual Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) will grandly open from 24 to 26 this March at Guangzhou Jinhan Exhibition Center. As one of the most important international tourism exhibitions in China and the Asian-Pacific region, the 19th edition of the show will feast the eyes of visitors home and abroad with a hilarious world-trip carnival. It will accommodate more than 500 exhibitors within a display area of 15,000 square meters. The show is open to trade visitors during the first two days and to the public on the third day. Over 60,000 visitors are expected to the site.
Tourism-Insider is attending as a Mediapartner and the Editor-in-Chief, Joachim Fischer, will be on the Tourism-Insider stand at 1A10 together with ICTM, the International Council of Tourism Media, where Mr. Fischer is the acting General Secretary.
