BEIJING is promoting customised tours around the Chinese capital to attract international tourism industry players, based on its observations of market trends.
Using the China Incentive, Business Travel & Meeting 2014 exhibition as a platform, Beijing Commission of Tourism is showcasing customised tours that are built on themes such as traditional Chinese medicine and health-oriented tours, competitions and races, and local festivals and celebrations, all drawn from a collective 16 districts and prefectures.
The commission’s deputy chairperson, Wang Yue, said Beijing has an edge in offering customised tours. First, the historic city is endowed with diverse resources and the government is paying attention to how these resources are converted into tourism products.
Systems and infrastructures are also in place to support tourism, while policy commitment, including US$30 million in grants, have aided the development of Beijing’s MICE industry.
Wang Yue remarked that some 200 million tourists visited Beijing annually in recent years, including five million international inbound tourists. Preliminary statistics suggest that some 91 per cent of visitors enquire about Beijing via the Internet.
The commission has also demoted the ratings of more than 100 hotels that failed to meet standards in the last three years in a bid to encourage hotels to keep up and remain competitive against international branded hotels.
Article by Nadia Chung. Translated by Ong Yanchun from the original TTG China e-Daily, September 22, 2014 article.
