Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #27

Travel & Tourism
China at Heart of Silk
Road Push
Xi’an Initiative moves Silk Road Project one step further ahead
Tourism ministers from Silk Road
Economic Belt and Maritime Silk
Road countries meeting in Xi’an,
China this summer decided new
measures to build the brand,
with the launch of the “Visit the
Silk Road” campaign.
demand for travel among the country's
expanding middle class, challenges to the
broader economy will mitigate growth to
some extent.
hotel chains in China is booming, with more
and a greater variety of offerings opening in
the past few years – and with many more
planned for the future. These developments
The meeting was jointly hosted by the
World Tourism Organization, China National
Tourism Administration and People's
Government of Shaanxi Province. To unlock
the tourism market’s potential, ministers at
the meeting called for more private sector
participation, a unified marketing plan and
framework, more airline or high-speed rail
connections, and, most important, simpler
visa policies along the Silk Road.
Li Jinzao, director of CNTA and chairman
of the meeting, underlined there is still
some work to do: “Issues regarding
transportation, visa policies, marketing
and security have as yet kept the Silk
Road tourism market from reaching its full
potential. Not even one-fifth of outbound
Chinese tourists visited the Silk Road.”
CHINA INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT
AS A TOURISM DESTINATION
As all Silk Roads tend to lead to China, it’s
important to note that the nation’s position
as a force in global travel and tourism
has been on the rise in recent years, and
in 2012, the country surpassed Japan to
become the largest market in Asia.
China's total travel market will continue its
double-digit growth for the next several
years, and online travel bookings will climb
past the US$30 billion mark by 2015. Yet
despite the continued growth and strong
WESTERN HOTEL GROUPS
RAMP-UP PRESENCE
The Wyndham Hotel Group hit a major
milestone in September, 2015, as it became
the first global hospitality company to open
1,000 hotels in Greater China. The latest
three hotels – the Wyndham Urumqi North,
the Wyndham Qingdao, and the Ramada
Plaza Changsha South – tipped the group
into the quadruple digits for Chinese
properties and solidified the hotel operator’s
commitment to growth throughout China.
Wyndham is not the only hotel giant with
interest in China: InterContinental Hotels
Group has 241 hotels open in the area,
with 205 in the pipeline, and Starwood
Hotels and Resorts has 150, with 160 in the
works. Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt are also
deeply invested. The number of US-based
Wyndham Grand Qingdao
are good news for travellers to China, as the
options for leisure and business travellers
alike are plentiful.
Issues regarding
transportation, visa
policies, marketing
and security have as
yet kept the Silk Road
tourism market from
reaching its full potential
36 Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport / Worldwide Edition N°27 / September - November 2015