Many farm owners will open their homes to tourists. Enhancement of many beautiful unknown places.
The charm of the ancient villages and beauty of rural China are going to the first places in the preferences of tourists. These places will be increasingly valued by encouraging many owners to open their homes to tourists. To determine the success of this initiative, it is not only the desire to get away from bustling cities, but also the desire to discover the ancient rural villages, to rediscover the traditions and folklore of places for now not present in the usual tourist routes. It is also a desire for ecology related to food, to rediscover the pleasure of healthy, natural food, not contaminated with chemicals. For now practicing this type of tourism are mostly Chinese tourists, but the enhancement of the countryside and villages will have a positive impact also on international tourism. Even foreigners will delight to discover the charm of many small towns hitherto unknown. This evolution tourism, which in the past has already successfully developed in France, Spain and Italy, will be accompanied by a large increase of two types of reception facilities, B & B (Bed and breakfast) and little farm hotels. The B&B are families who rent rooms to tourists, the farm are small hotel (usually managed by agricultural households) located in the heart of farming. In the coming years, these two types of accommodation will become very numerous and will enrich the tourism landscape of China.
China to further develop village tourism
Sanya, Hainan (Xinhua). Local township and village tourism in China will receive a boost in investment this year, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said on Thursday. Ten thousand villages will become tourism spots and 200,000 households will be turned into farm stay accommodation, Wang said at the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit. Over 13.5 million people were employed in the tourism sector last year, with more than 1.7 million households in the farm stay business and benefiting more than 30 million farmers.
The Chinese tourism market is expected to exceed 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars within five years and the country will roll out more supportive policies to nurture the tourism sector, Wang added. China is the second largest travel and tourism economy in the world with each Chinese person making an average two trips last year. This is expected to grow 7 percent annually for the next 10 years, according to the WTTC.
The London-based WTTC, founded in 1990, is one of the most influential tourism organizations in the world. It has selected a different city to host the annual Global Travel and Tourism Summit meeting since 2000. This will be the second time it has held the meeting in China. In 2010, the summit took place in Beijing, the country's capital.
Xinhua Insight: China's tourism sector needs steady, sustainable growth
SANYA, Hainan (Xinhua) -- With more Chinese willing to pack their bags and travel, the tourism boom has potential to reshape the country's economy, but steadiness and sustainability are needed, experts said at an international tourism summit on Friday.
PILLAR of GROWTH
China's decision to make tourism a strategic pillar of the national economy in 2009 has set a leading example for countries around the world and is paying off, said Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) at the ongoing 2014 World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit in Hainan. Total tourism consumption reached about three trillion yuan (480 billion U.S. dollars) last year, accounting for over 12 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods. Over 13.5 million people were employed in the tourism sector in 2013, with more than 1.7 million households in the farm stay business, benefiting more than 30 million farmers.
The tourism sector has integrated itself with other sectors as the Chinese government views the industry as a strategic pillar to sustain growth and leverage modern service business, said Shao Qiwei, director of the National Tourism Administration. Travel and tourism have upgraded the primary industry with an increase in village tourism spots and services, supported the secondary industry by churning out tourism equipment and souvenirs, while boosting the tertiary sector through tourism-themed financial, information and health-care businesses, Shao added.
FASTER PACE EXPECTED
China is already the world's second-largest travel and tourism economy, with each Chinese person making an average two-and-a-half trips last year, and the momentum is expected to continue. The Chinese tourism market is expected to grow 7 percent annually for the next 10 years, and may overtake the United States to be the number one tourism superpower in 2023, according to David Scowsill, president and CEO of WTTC.
The sector, especially the high-end hotel business, was challenged last year as the Chinese government launched a frugality campaign to uproot bureaucratic and extravagant work styles among public servants, a policy that has reportedly prompted star hotels to downgrade their ratings to woo customers. "The policy impact is just short-term. Tourism is resilient as new products and services will keep growing, especially for China, which is still in the primary phase of tourism development. The potential of growth is enormous in the long term," said Wolfgang Boettcher, Starwood Hainan Area Managing Director.
STEADINESS, SUSTAINABILITY NEEDED
The general outlook of China's tourism sector is rosy, but market players directly feeling the pulse of tourism trends pointed out there is still a long way to go for China to be a real and sustainable tourism superpower. The biggest challenge facing China's tourism market is oversupply, especially in the accommodation sector, said Duan Qiang, Chairman of
Beijing Tourism Group.
The days have gone when a few star hotels could easily make hefty profits, said Duan, adding that now most of them only score marginal profits with a surging number of players grabbing a piece of the cake. Over-reliance on government and public money is no longer sustainable, and service quality has to be improved, he said. While rising income enables the middle class to spend more on travel and tourism, an unsound social security network may dampen their willingness to enjoy more and longer travels, said David G. Brooks, chairman for Greater China at Coca Cola. Sustainability is another major concern, Brooks added.
"We should bear in mind that the tourism business is about tomorrow tourism. You should take into account profits, people and the planet in tourism development," said Ken Chu, Chairman & CEO of Mission Hills Group.
