Joint Chinese-UNWTO “First World Conference on Tourism for Development” Held in Beijing

The First World Conference on Tourism for Development, an event being coordinated by the Chinese government and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), will welcome representatives from over 140 countries and regions to Beijing between the 18th and 21st of May, 2016.

The conference will focus on the theme “Tourism for Peace and Development” and focus on role of tourism as a means of contributing to the realisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in the areas of peace and poverty alleviation. China has been praised by the United Nations as a prime example in this field, having played a key role in the UN’s preceding Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) successful accomplishment of halving extreme poverty worldwide between 2000 and 2010, five years before the stated 2015 target.

China now ranks as the world leader in both domestic and outbound tourism, as well as in overall tourism consumption. Chinese outbound tourists, which had been very limited in number before the turn of the millennium, totalled 133 million in 2015 and spent USD 195 billion overseas (COTRI Market Report, Spring 2016 Edition), while annual trips made within China grew from 200 million in 1984 to 4.1 billion in 2015 and corresponded with a rise in domestic tourism revenue from USD 1.2 billion to USD 522 billion.

This boom in the Chinese tourism sector is playing a significant role in China’s continued economic growth, a factor that will serve as a leading example in the context of the First World Conference on Tourism for Development’s tying of the industry with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the Chinese tourism sector represented 10.1% of the country’s GDP in 2015, which makes it larger than China’s domestic banking, education and automobile industries. Furthermore, close to 80 million Chinese workers are employed in the tourism industry, representing over 10% of the total domestic workforce. On account of the fact that more than 60% of those working in the sector are from regional areas, this has contributed greatly towards the issue of employment of surplus rural workers, a crucial concern in urbanising economies.

In advance of the conference, the China National Tourism Administration’s (CNTA) China Tourism Development Report has declared that it is expects Chinese tourism expenditure to hit USD 1.22 trillion (RMB 8 trillion) by 2020. Contributing to China’s continued economic development, it is anticipated that this increase in tourism spending will be responsible for more than 10 percent of GDP growth during this period.

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute provides expert insights into the worldwide developments of China’s outbound tourism market. As Chinese outbound tourists are travelling to a large range of destinations, our publications cover a number of different regions. Important Chinese visitor activities are analysed, and detailed insights are presented.

With COTRI’s insights you can create a successful business strategy with in-depth market insights, comprehensive qualitative analyses, and future prospects. The recently published Spring 2016 Edition of the COTRI Market Report features in-depth analysis of the developing trends in Chinese outbound tourism, supported by a wealth of qualitative and quantitative statistical research.

Sources: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), China Daily

Photo: flickr