In the afterglow of China’s National Day “golden week” of holiday shopping, George Osborne has announced changes to the visa application process for Chinese coming to the UK, making it a more attractive option.
Chinese are now the largest consumers of luxury in the world, but over 60 percent of their spending happens outside China – and the UK has an opportunity to capture a larger share of the market. The average Chinese visitor to the UK is reported to spend around £8,000, so a significant increase in visitor numbers could represent a windfall for well-prepared British brands.

UNWTO Silk Road Activities at WTM London 2013
Silk Road Social Media event held in collaboration with Travel Perspective and supported by WTM Wednesday 6 November, 14:30-16:00, Platinum Suite 6, Level 2
please see the invitation for more details:

SILK ROAD AT WTM SPEED NETWORKING EVENT
Monday 4 November (09.00 – 10.00), Knowledge Theatre – GV750
Thursday 7 November (09.00 – 10.00), Knowledge Theatre – GV750
WTM Speed Networking is a not to be missed initiative designed to encourage and drive business between WTM Buyers’ Club members (formerly Meridian Club) and Exhibitors. This year, two Speed Networking sessions will be held – a fantastic opportunity for Silk Road stakeholders to network and do business!

Tourism and heritage experts called for more effective visa systems to support tourism development at the UNESCO/UNWTO Silk Roads Heritage Corridors Tourism Strategy Workshop. The workshop aimed to define a tourism management roadmap for two UNESCO Silk Road Heritage Corridors crossing China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan an (Uzbekistan.Almaty, Kazakhstan).

visitBerlin presents revamped website with Venue Finder at IMEX America. The search for venues in Berlin is now even easier. The new Venue Finder at convention.visitBerlin.com, Berlin’s official conventions portal, suggests locations that meet the needs of conference, convention and meeting planners. This was announced today by the visitBerlin Berlin Convention Office (BCO) at IMEX America. The BCO website convention.visitBerlin.com was complete revamped as well.

A total of 11.7 million passengers used Helsinki Airport in January–September, which was 2.5% more than in the corresponding period of 2012. International transit traffic increased by 8.6% compared with the same period in the previous year. There was particularly strong growth in the number of passengers transferring between international flights. The increase was 18.0% during the third quarter.