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The China National Tourist Office (CNTO) is aiming to attract more Singaporean yuppies and Gen Y students to China in a bid to boost visitor arrivals from the Republic.

Li Jianping, director, CNTO said, Our objective is to attract young professionals and tertiary students who normally go to Western countries for their vacation.

CNTO is targeting this new market as it holds much potential.
Li said China has seen many repeat visitors from Singapore's older generation and is also confident it can attract younger Singaporeans.

He adds that China has much to offer as a destination with its cultural and heritage sites, especially in Buddhist tourism.

This initiative he said is still in its early stages but CNTO is working with travel agencies to woo this age group.

There would also be a direct marketing campaign launched later this year.

For this year, China is targeting a full recovery for its inbound arrivals post-SARS of 2003.

The country wants to return to its 97 million visitor arrivals of 2002 and is carefully monitoring the situation in 2004.

Of this figure, the majority were repeat visitors from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan with 13 million arrivals considered as foreigners.

As for arrivals from Asia, Li said the target is to return to double-digit growth rates.