EU-China Tourism Year Commences

Government and industry leaders are set to gather in Venice, Italy, to launch the EU-China Tourism Year on Friday. There will be two events: a business summit involving a wide spectrum of participants, from SMEs to commissioners of the EU, and a simultaneous high-level meeting in the Palazzo dei Dogi. The events will facilitate business networking, contacts between major European and Chinese tourism entities and discussions about several initiatives to increase the flow of tourists between China and the EU, Travel Daily News reported. A program of subsequent events, promoting Europe as a destination to the Chinese market will form the backbone of EU-China Tourism Year. The program is being funded by the European Commission and organized by leading European travel trade organizations, namely ETOA, ETC, ECCTA and Welcome Chinese. In 2016, Chinese arrivals into the EU reached 8.2 million and these numbers are expected to grow substantially faster to 13.9 million by 2021.