The seven cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Cangzhou of Hebei Province, Jinan of Shandong Province, Bengbu of Anhui Province, Nanjing of Jiangsu Province and Shanghai, signed a declaration of cooperation on Monday in Jinan, the capital city of east China’s Shandong Province.

The declaration requires the signatories to cooperate in areas such as passenger source research, tourism promotion and cross-city customer service.

The 1,318-km high-speed railway, which runs along east China from Beijing to Shanghai, connects two of China’s most important economic regions: the Bohai Sea Rim Region and the Yangtze River Delta Region.

The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway will be fully operational by the end of June, allowing passengers to travel between Beijing and Shanghai in less than five hours. The railway’s trains will hit top speeds between 250 and 300 km per hour and are expected to transport 160 million passengers annually.

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The Chinese Luxury Traveller White Paper said Chinese tourists consumed 17 percent of the global shopping market. Their most sought after items were watches and jewellery.

The study was conducted in association with the International Luxury Travel Market Asia, the Beijing News reported Thursday.

This is the first time that Chinese have topped the list. Russians came second with 16 percent, followed by tourists from Japan and the US (five percent) and Indonesia (four percent).

The second biggest airline in China and one of the top 10 carriers worldwide, China Eastern is the first airline to actually set a date for long-sought direct service from China.

A smaller Chinese carrier, Hainan Airlines, which has flights to Seattle, said two years ago it would fly to Hawaii from Beijing, but no date was ever set and the service has never begun.

China Eastern needs regulatory approval from U.S. officials in Washington, D.C., but tourism marketing officials in Honolulu said Wednesday they do not anticipate any problem getting that approval in time.

Click here to see complete news : Airline sets a date for China flights to Hawaii

China Eastern Airlines (SSE: 600115 SEHK: 0670 NYSE: CEA) is an airline headquartered on the grounds of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Changning District, Shanghai, China.

It is a major Chinese airline operating international, domestic and regional routes. Its main hubs are at Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. China Eastern also has hubs at Kunming Wujiaba International Airport and Xi’an Xianyang International Airport.

China Eastern Airlines is China’s second-largest carrier by passenger numbers and the world’s third-biggest carriers by market value. On 16 April 2010, China Eastern Airlines announced an initial agreement to join SkyTeam.
In 2010, China Eastern Airlines carried 64.93 million domestic and international passengers with an average load factor of 78%. The airline reported a net profit of CNY5.3 billion ($807 million) in 2010.

The Chinese delegation led by Shao Qiwei, head of the China National Tourism Administration, governors form the Union of Kansai Governments including Toshizo Ido , governor of Hyogo Prefecture and Keiji Yamada, governor of Kyoto Prefecture, and officials from other institutions and local governments attended the forum.

In his speech entitled “The tourism exchange between China and Japan”, Shao said that the two-way tourism exchange between China and Japan has a strong foundation based on mutual understanding, and there is a brilliant prospect for cooperation. He also said that Kansai area is the cradle of Japanese culture and it is famous for its ancient capital looks. Kansai area, including the city of Osaka, has become an important tourist destination for Chinese people.

According to Shao, next year will be the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. Tourism is the bridge of friendship and messenger of peace. The tourist circle in China would like to take this opportunity, jointly with Japanese friends in the tourist circle, to fortify cooperation in this historical turning point, expand exchanges, and contribute to the betterment and developing of Sino-Japan relations.

Ido and Yamada also addressed the forum and declared their willingness to make more efforts in pushing the tourism exchanges between China and Kansai, Japan.

After the forum, Wu Jianguo, deputy head of the Shanghai Tourism Administration, on behalf of Jiangsu province, Zhejiang province and the Shanghai Tourism Union, signed a statement of intention on building the tourism exchange and cooperation partnership with Yamada Keiji, governor of Kyoto Prefecture representing Union of Kansai Governments.
The Union of Kansai Governments, established in December 2010, is the first wide-area administrative union which includes Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka Hyogo, Wakayama, Tokushima, and Tottori.
Source: Xinhua

At 8:45 local time, 10,000-ton passenger liner Yanjing, which set sail from Tianjin port several days ago, berthed at Kobe port slowly and was warmly welcomed by local people holding banners in their hands. Chinese tourists walked off the liner in smiles. They were greeted by performances given by the Kobe City Orchestra. Later, a grand welcoming ceremony was held by the Port Administrative Office.

Noriaki Okaguchi, executive of the Port Administrative Office made a speech welcoming Chinese tourists to Kansai, Japan and he expressed the hope that they would convey the vigor of Kansai to more Chinese people to help attract more Chinese tourists. Okaguchi gave the local wine as a present to Yuan Xuetian, the chairman of Tianjin Jinlong International Travel Agency which organized this tour. Local staff also presented flowers and souvenirs to Chinese tourists.

After the great earthquake in March 11, the number of foreign tourists to Japan decreased suddenly due to the following nuclear crisis. Chinese group tours to Japan have also been suspended. This touring group organized by Tianjin Jinlong International Travel Agency has been the largest since China resumed group tour to Japan. Some reporters from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and Shanxi also came along.

This touring group will conduct a five-day trip to Kansai, visiting ancient capital city Nara, Kyoto and modern city Osaka. After the welcoming ceremony, the touring group will head for Nara for sightseeing.

Beginning later this month, a maximum of 500 individual Chinese tourists could be allowed to visit Taiwan daily, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday without providing further details of the process.

Chinese residents from Shanghai and Beijing will be eligible to visit Taiwan as independent tourists, with residents from Xiamen also likely to be able to apply for such visits once the two sides finalize the procedures, the council said.

“We are in the final stage of confirming the final details and procedures. Hopefully the plan will be formally introduced by the end of this month,” Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun told a press conference.

Applicants for individual visits will either have to be students older than 18 or non-students who are at least 20 years old. Applications will have to be made through travel agencies and applicants will be allowed to be accompanied by their spouses and direct relatives.

National Immigration Agency Deputy Director-General Ho Jung-tsun said applicants should prepare financial statements and the names of relatives who can stand as guarantors, as well as provide a simple travel itinerary with information such as the hotels they plan to stay at.

Eligible Chinese visitors will be allowed to stay in Taiwan for a maximum of 15 days, and those who fail to follow the regulations will be barred entry to Taiwan for three years. Travel agencies that handle individual Chinese tourist visits will also be held responsible for any violations of the regulations.

Liu would not provide an exact timetable of when individual Chinese tourists would be allowed entry to Taiwan. It is expected that the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait will jointly announce the details of the plan in Taipei next Wednesday following a meeting to examine the cross-strait agreements signed by the two sides.

The number of Chinese visitors to Taiwan has increased to an average of 3,600 a day since the daily quota was raised from 3,000 to 4,000 early this year, but they have been required to travel as part of organized groups.

With the implementation of the plan, the government has been negotiating with China to increase the number of night-time flights between Taiwan and certain Chinese cities, with the aim of increasing the number from 370 a week to 500.

The council said the government would also set up a joint service center for individual Chinese tourists with staff from the council, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Ministry of Interior stationed at the center to handle emergencies.

Ottawa, like all Canadian cities and many cities worldwide, is trying to fight its way through the far side of the recession of 2008.

Mayor Watson has several plans in the works to combat that, with Plan A being to promote the city as a destination hot spot – the main goal behind his five-day trip to Beijing early in June.

“China is one of the largest growing economies in the world and tourism is one of the strengths of this city,” Watson said.

The mayor, a team of the area’s tourism business leaders and staff will head to Beijing from June 15 to 19 for the Beijing International Tourism Festival.

Watson calls China a “critical market for Ottawa’s future prosperity.”

Watson was invited personally by Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing, to lead a tourism-focused business mission.

Watson calls the travel trade show “the largest in the world.”

The trade mission will focus on three major goals: work with Ottawa Tourism to promote the nation’s capital as a preferred destination for Chinese tourists, highlight the Ottawa Airport’s long-term goal of strengthening its relationship with airlines serving the China-Canada market, and direct foreign investment from China to Ottawa such as the increased presence in Ottawa of Huawei Technology Inc.

“It’s my first big trip in this term,” the mayor said. “It’s very quick. I don’t consider this a vacation. It will be a lot of work.”

Joining him on the mission so far are the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, Ottawa Tourism, the Ottawa Convention Centre, the Ottawa Airport, Delta Hotel, the Westin Hotel and the Lord Elgin.

“The fact we’re getting more and more delegations wanting to join the delegation is a good thing,” Watson said. “Ten years ago when I made this trip no one wanted to go.”

He says there are many reasons Ottawa should be a popular spot for the Chinese.

The location is good for tourists starting their tour of Canada or there’s plenty to do and see in Ottawa to make it the entire vacation.

“We’re very much viewed as a safe and clean capital,” Mayor Watson said. “That’s the number one traveller’s desire. We have to promote our strengths – we’re a clean, green, safe capital.”

Just two weeks ago, Mayor Watson was in Toronto speaking with provincial politicians

He also took the time to speak to representatives from Invest Toronto – a firm helping foreign companies relocate to Toronto, access Toronto’s markets, talent and business resources.

“They promote Toronto on a very large stage,” Watson said. “We have to be much more aggressive ourselves.”

Watson says the new downtown convention centre will “act as a magnet” to tourism.

He hopes the city can start work on “another 400 to 500-room hotel.”

He says the line is in the water to get that done.

“There were a lot of false starts with the convention centre, but it’s here now,” Watson said. “It’s a slow process but interest is there.”

Mayor Watson feels he’s done the research and it’s now time to head to Beijing and start promoting the city. Time will tell if the trip is successful.

“It depends on the reaction we get from the people we meet,” he said.

“If we’re successful, I think we’ll see results as early as next year.”

Over the years, BITE has proven its credibility as a platform for networking opportunities and business discussions across the Asia Pacific region. Committed to presenting the highest quality of exhibitors, buyers and visitors across the region, BITE 2011 packs in an enormous showcase of tourism destinations and attractions as well as travel-related goods and services to set you at full throttle in the Chinese tourism market.

Beijing International Tourism Expo 2011 is the Asia’s leading and most consistent tourism event. It is the only travel and tourism exhibition co-organized by the Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA). Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE) 2011 is the 8th edition of the event and boasts of excellent figures of participation year after year. It covers a huge display of tourism destinations and attractions as well as travel-related goods and services. The 8th International Exhibition For Business & Leisure Tourism promises to attract the highest class of exhibitors, buyers and visitors from all over the world.

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