Ambassadors from embassies of 6 Caribbean countries in China,
Mr. Zeng Gang, Director General of Department of Latin American and
Caribbean Affairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Ms. Li Yaying, Deputy Director General,
China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) attend this seminar.
China Caribbean Tourism Seminar, organized by Embassies of 6 Caribbean countries in China, associated with the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Department of China Ministry of Foreign Affairs and China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), was successfully held in Beijing Kerry Center Hotel on July 20, 2007.
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Mr. Zeng Gang, Director General of Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs is giving a speech on the opening ceremony. |
Ambassador Wayne McCook from Jamaica Embassy in China, Coordinator of the Caricom Caucus, is warmly introducing the tourism resource in the Caribbean. |
Ambassador Wayne McCook from Jamaica Embassy in China, Coordinator of the Caricom Caucus, Ms. Li Xiaolin, Vice President Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Mr. Zeng Gang, Director General of Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ms. Li Yaying, Deputy Director General, China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) have delivered speeches in the opening ceremony.
Ambassador Wayne McCook in remarks on behalf of the caucus pointed out that On February 2, the first China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum opened in Kingston, capital of Jamaica, during the visit of Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong who delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. During the visit and Forum, China added Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Grenada to its approved travel destinations, which promising the region a bigger piece of the Chinese tourist market.
Ambassador of Jamaica Embassy and Ambassador of Guyana Embassy
present gifts of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee and Guyana's El Dorado Rum to
Ms. Li Xiaolin, Vice President Chinese People's Association
for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Mr. Zeng Gang,
Director General of Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ms. Li Yaying, Deputy Director General,
China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
There would be great cooperative prospects and further development in the field of trade, investment, tourism, finance, transportation, agriculture and etc. between China and Caribbean countries. China and the Caribbean countries envision great potential in tourism and co-operation in this field shall be actively promoted, however, tourism industry between China and Caribbean did not develop well as expected, for the inconvenient transportation and Chinese visitors’ less the knowledge about Caribbean. Hence, China Caribbean Tourism Seminar focuses on the topics of the development of the airline, the trend of China outbound travel market and how to develop the Caribbean travel market.
The Round Table Dialogue came after the opening ceremony, a serious look at the tourism industry that is the backbone of the Caribbean economy, was divided into two sections:
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Mr. Phillip Miller, Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and Chairman of the seminar seen here with Co Host Mr. Alex Wan of Executive Editor of the China Daily CEO Roundtable. |
Represntatives from CBN Travel Service and World Travel Online and from other media and Chinese tour operators are concentrating on listening to the Round Table Dialogue. |
Section I: What role can major Airlines play in developing the Caribbean Tourism Market?
There are many direct airlines connecting between China and America. Chinese visitors can first fly to USA and then transfer to Caribbean countries by air. Representatives from Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines and American Airlines have given an introduction of their airlines and the advantages. Representatives from the Chinese airlines as Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern said that strengthening the cooperation of the USA native airlines and the Caribbean airlines was the key of developing the Caribbean airlines and promoting the tourism between China and Caribbean, as Chinese visitors have to get USA visa for which is difficult to apply. Mr. Frank Legre, General Manager of Air France/ KLM and Ms. Liu Haimei, Representative of Virgin Atlantic Airways introduced some routes from China to the Caribbean through major European Gateways.
Section II: The Chinese Outbound Market - Trends and possibilities for the Caribbean and how to exploit them.
Representatives from Leading Chinese Outbound tour Operators and media discussed the situation and trends of the Chinese outbound travel market and believed Caribbean was one of the important areas for domestic enterprises to go out. Tourism is one of the most important economic activities in the Caribbean, contributing a third to a half of GDP in most countries. The experiences of all participating countries in the development of tourism shall be shared with a view to attracting and facilitating investment and co-operation between enterprises. Priority shall be given to making Chinese people know the Caribbean tourism resources, such as Caribbean music and art, and to promotion of land-based tourism including eco-tourism, and cruise tourism, and co-operation between bilateral tour operators and the visa application.