THE European Commission will be hosting tourism suppliers in Europe to meet up with China’s outbound agents at an event held alongside the inaugural ITB China in Shanghai in May 2017.
Organised by the European Travel Commission (ETC) and The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA), the initiative, known as World Bridge Tourism, is expected to allow 100 European suppliers to network with a comparable number of Chinese buyers at the session.
After ITB China, a similar event will also be held at the ETOA Global European Marketplace in November 2017, where 100 Chinese outbound operators will gather to talk to a nominated group of European suppliers.
Research and webinar programmes will be held alongside the events in hopes for the tourism community in Europe to better understand the needs of Chinese travellers.
ETOA’s CEO Tom Jenkins said: “It is particularly fitting that the European Commission is taking a lead in this area as Chinese visitors view Europe as a unitary destination. All markets are important; new markets are particularly welcome.
“China is undoubtedly exciting: its growth and spend is transforming a number of destinations in Europe. It will be up to the project to see if there are any difficulties with this phenomenon, and to find ways of ensuring that the impetus to travel is robust and well-informed, and that the reception of visitors exceeds their expectations. China has to be prepared for Europe, and Europe must be prepared for China.”
According to ETOA, the World Bridge Tourism project is meant as a precursor to the EU-China Year of Tourism 2018.
