The event showing you how to profit from the amazing growth of China’s tourism sector

London, UK 01 July 2008: With the strong support of VisitBritain, China National Tourism Administration, Visit London, Kunming Municipal Tourism Board and the Pacific Asia Travel Association, top experts from tourism bodies and travel companies intimately involved in China are meeting at World Travel Market in London on the 12th of November. For a full day, these experts are sharing their case studies with delegates from China, Europe, America, Africa and the Middle East at Europe’s premier travel trade exhibition.
Since 1999, China has embarked on an unprecedented rate of travel industry growth domestically and internationally. This rate is expected to remain stable at over 10% for the next 12 years, on course to make China the top tourist destination and tourism source market before 2020. While the size of the market for travel products and services is potentially huge, generating real profits has remained an elusive goal for many reasons. Most important of these is the communication and cultural gap, followed closely by restrictive legal and financial policies still in place in China.

2008 has been a turbulent year so far – the euphoria of Beijing holding the Olympic games and the tragic earthquake in Western China. These events and other developments are having serious impacts on the state of the tourism industry in China. The WTM-ChinaContact forum is the only event outside China that can discuss these developments with authority. Through forums and interactive panel discussions delegates deepen their insight of China as a tourism market and destination.

This landmark event held at the premier international travel trade exhibition, World Travel Market, is now in its third year. Support is given from international organisations and industry leaders as well as global travel trade media partners. Following on from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, unprecedented media attention falls on China. No travel organisation can afford to miss this rare opportunity for real knowledge and networking with Chinese travel professionals. A delegation of Chinese tourism officials and travel agents as well as travel trade media will be visiting during WTM. Networking opportunities will be available to maximise the benefits to forum delegates.
Focusing on the need for bi-lateral tourism development, the forum returns to the themes of it’s inaugural year as China tries to embrace it’s new status as a mainstream destination and sought after source market. With the US added to the list of approved tourist destinations there is almost no limit to where Chinese can travel.
The forum will open with welcome speeches from representatives of Visit Britain, China National Tourism Administration and PATA.

Highlights of the forum:
China Outbound tourism
• Eminent China tourism expert Professor Wolfgang Arlt will discuss the impact of various events on China’s tourism sector in the coming year.
• Rosita Yiu heads Accor Hotels’ Asian sales. She shares her experience of marketing accommodation to Chinese visitors.
• Insights into the experience of different foreign tourism organisations and companies in China will be given by Roy Graff, Managing Director of ChinaContact.
• A full speaker list is available from the forum website

China Inbound tourism
• The Chairman of Kunming Tourism Board talks about the growth in special interest tourism in Western China.
• Sportsworld is an official ticketing agent for the Beijing Olympic Games and official China agent for the Wimbledon tennis championships. Paul Lemon, General Manager of Sportsworld Beijing talks about their experiences of operating in this emerging market for sports tourism services.
To learn more visit http://www.future-of-travel.org
Until 12 October, the early bird delegate rate is only £288.00 (USD 568 / EUR 368) for full day event and £148.00 (USD 288 / EUR 188) for half day. Tickets include access to an exclusive online network and all forum presentations. From 12 October and during WTM, the rate is £330.00 (USD 648 /EUR 418) full day and £168.00 half day (USD 328 / EUR 218).

Contact details:

Media: info@ccontact.com +44 20 3239 9688
Sponsors: info@ccontact.com +44 20 3239 9688
Registration: info@future-of-travel.org +44 20 8783 9588

download the WTM-ChinaContact press release

Great Eastern Studio
Special Event

Thursday 29 may 2008
19:00-22:00

The Beijing Olympics – hype and reality

A China Insider talk, networking reception and fundraiser

With the recent media attention on China being largely hostile (or viewed as such from China), how do Chinese feel the Games will affect China’s business environment and relations with other countries? In a wider perspective, what benefits, challenges and opportunities do the Olympic Games bring to China? Has the Chinese government learned lessons of other Olympic host cities and will London learn from Beijing?
The evening will provide a diverting program and fantastic networking opportunity which will include:

• Talk and discussion hosted by Roy Graff, Managing Director of ChinaContact on what comes after the Beijing Olympics
• A visual journey through the natural and cultural heritage of Sichuan province from the areas hit by the recent earthquake
• Formal launch of the China Advisers Network
• Networking reception for members of the IOD China Interest Group
• Chinese Dim Sum and open bar

If your organization would like to become a sponsor of this event please contact Roy Graff before 27 May for more details on roy@greateasternstudio.co.uk.

Supported by

IoD City China Interest Group
China Advisers Network
ChinaContact
Orient Business Consulting

50% of profits from this event will be given to charity to help with long-term relief to victims of the earthquake in Western China. Information about the charity’s work will be given during the event. Additional donations are accepted through the registration form or on the night by cash or cheque.
Tickets cost £35.00 per person and additional donations can be made online.

Sponsor
China Business Services

Contact Details
Online registration: http://greateasternstudio-olympics.eventbrite.com/
Registration by email: events@greateasternstudio.co.uk
Telephone inquiries: 020 8180 5790 or 07821 093199
Address: 58 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3QR
www.greateasternstudio.co.uk

PDF invitation

London / 24 March 2008

ChinaContact, a leading market entry specialist consultancy for China tourism and hospitality, will be assisting the Ghana Tourist Board and a significant delegation  of tour operators from Ghana to exhibit at the China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market in Beijing, April 14-16.

Following on ChinaContact’s previous work on behalf of VisitBritain, UKinbound and Visit London among other clients, this year at COTTM the company is working on behalf of Visit London, several UK-based tour operators and the Ghana delegation.  COTTM is held at China World exhibition centre in East Beijing.
Roy Graff, ChinaContact’s Managing Director, will attend the exhibition on 14 and 15 April. On the 16th of April he will be among the delegates at the International Forum on China’s Outbound Tourism which  is held at the new Sofitel Wanda hotel. ChinaContact is IFCOT’s official European partner and registration agent.

ChinaContact is a full service market entry consultancy serving the travel and hospitality sectors. They offer a variety of services from localisation and event production to full representation in China. For an appointment with Roy during his visit to China, email ChinaContact with your requirements or questions.

Contact: info(at)ccontact.com

Tel: +44 20 32399688

Telephone in China: +86 13511013224

More details can be found on the website: www.chinacontact.co.uk

ChinaContact Recruitment Notice

21 February 2008

Vacancy:

Email: info@ccontact.com
Contact: Roy Graff, ChinaContact
http://www.chinacontact.org

Over the last quarter of 2007, ChinaContact collected survey responses from tourism and hospitality professionals from all over the world - 52 countries and territories in total.

The ChinaContact global tourism survey was sent to several thousand tourism professionals
across the world who have an interest in, or work with China. In addition, links to the survey
were published on the ChinaContact and WTM-ChinaContact forum websites, visited by
tourism professionals interested in knowing more about China.

In the space of three months we collected several hundred replies but used just 200 fully
completed surveys. We analysed the replies to understand how the international tourism
industry is preparing for the unquestionable growth in Chinese outbound tourism, what steps
are taken by travel service suppliers to be more attractive and hospitable to Chinese and
what prospects do they see for the future. The results will interest tourism service providers who have not yet developed their China market strategy as well as researchers and academics. This presentation contains the major findings in graphic format. For full raw data please contact us.

Go to the ChinaContact network now to download survey presentation

Registration to the ChinaContact tourism advice network is required in order to download the survey. If you have not yet registered, this is completely free of charge.

click here to register to the ChinaContact tourism advice network

ChinaContact are proud to partner with IFCOT in 2008. The premier forum on Chinese
outbound tourism to be held in China gathers top speakers from China and abroad to discuss the latest developments in China outbound tourism and provide great networking opportunities.As official partners ChinaContact offer the facility to reserve a place at the forum and by credit card online or by electronic bank transfer in the UK. This means faster response, safer processing of payments and lower transaction costs. IFCOT has been held in Beijing for the past 2 years, and this is the 4th annual forum. It is held at the same time as China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market, and delegates to the forum are given free access to the COTTM exhibition. COTTM exhibitors also receive a £50.00 discount off the price of the forum. From past experience, the forum has been gaining momentum and attracts excellent speakers and industry
leaders.

Some of the confirmed speakers for this year include:

Phornsiri Manoharn, Governor, Tourism Authority of Thailand
Dr. Wang Xinjun, Managing Director, Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting Co., Ltd
Mr. Horst Lommatzsch, Asia Director, Germany National Tourist Board
Mr. Clemente Contestabile, Head of the Consular Chancery, Embassy of Italy in Beijing
Mr. Feng Bin, General Manager, Beijing UTS International Travel Service
Mr. Gao Zhiquan, President Assistant & General Manager of outbound Travel Department, China CYTS Tours Holding Co. Ltd
Mr. Per Setterberg, Chief Executive Officer, Global Refund Group
Rosita Yiu, Vice President Sales Development Incoming Asia, AccorWith more senior speakers to be announced soon.

The topics covered include the growing market for leisure (ADS) tourism to Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. With the latest agreement between China and US to promote outbound tourism, competition for the Chinese consumer is hotting up. This forum will help gain general knowledge and facilitate excellent networking with Chinese travel agents and other key players in the sector.

ChinaContact, IFCOT representative in Europe, is offering the option of booking your place at the forum online and paying locallyin Europe. This allows for a faster and safer payment transaction and saves on the international money transfer costs. To take advantage of this convenience, please click on this link to be taken to the booking form, or copy paste the
URL below:

http://chinacontact-ifcot.eventbrite.com/