The
Chairman of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), Mr.
Shao Qiwei, and UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, have agreed to
strengthen cooperation between both organizations as a key step
towards advancing China’s tourism development objectives.
On
the occasion of his visit to Spain to receive the UNWTO Award for
Lifetime Achievement, Mr. Shao also met with the Minister of
Industry, Energy and Tourism of Spain, Mr. José Manuel Soria
(Madrid, Spain, 15 January 2013).
Meeting
Mr. Rifai, Chairman Shao stressed the importance of collaboration
with UNWTO in achieving the new objectives of China’s tourism
policy, a sector identified by the Central Government of China as one
of the pillars of the country’s economy. “The focus in China is
now on quality and sustainability. That is, while the tourism sector
has grown significantly over the past years in terms of volume, the
future of the sector should focus on the diversification of tourism
products, on environmental protection, on the quality of the
workforce and overall quality over quantity. In this respect UNWTO
support and guidance is of the upmost importance,” said Chairman
Shao.
“UNWTO
is very supportive of China’s tourism strategy and is committed to
supporting its tourism administration,” said Mr. Rifai. “There
can be no tourism growth without responsibility and sustainability
and thus we are extremely pleased to see that China, one of the
world’s major tourism destinations and
source markets, is putting quality and sustainability at the heart of
its tourism policy objectives.”
Since
2006, UNWTO has supported the establishment of five Sustainable
Tourism Observatories in China which are at the forefront of efforts
to convert UNWTO theoretical criteria on sustainable tourism into
practice at the destination level.
Meeting
with Minister Soria of Spain, Mr. Shao further stressed
that in spite of the current deficit in China’s tourism balance due
to slower growth in inbound tourism compared to outbound in 2012, the
Chinese Government has not changed its strategy of encouraging
outbound tourism. “With 148 countries now included in the list of
‘Approved Destination Status’ (ADS), the Government, and
particularly CNTA, will continue to promote the traveling of Chinese
people abroad as we believe in the mutual benefits of collaboration –
by continuing to send Chinese travellers to Europe, the benefits will
eventually flow back to China.” In 2012, 80 million Chinese
travelled abroad, while 2.9 billion domestic trips were
registered.
Attending
the historic meeting, Mr. Rifai highlighted the role of UNWTO in
bringing together two world tourism leaders. “Spain is a reservoir
of tourism experience and know-how built over more than 150 years of
tourism history and China is an emerging tourism ‘giant’. Spain
can share its knowledge and experience with China and China can share
its opportunities with Spain and through its tourists benefit not
only Spain, but the entire European region,” he said.