On 11 December, Shao Qiwei （Chairman of China National Tourism Administration）met with Joan Mesquida, Secretary of State for Tourism of Spain and his delegation in Beijing. The two parties exchanged ideas on strengthening the bilateral cooperation in tourism.

Shao first expressed his welcome to the guests and briefed them on China’s inbound and outbound tourism market from January to October this year. He said that China has recently issued the Opinions on Quickening the Development of Tourism to provide some supportive policies and further open up China’s tourism market, adding that Spanish travel agencies and investors are welcome to carry out business operations in China. Shao Qiwei also said that following efforts to mitigate the negative effects of the financial crisis, cross boarder travel between China and the West has seen an upward trend, which strengthened the confidence in communication and cooperation between China and Spain.

After giving an introduction to Spain’s inbound and outbound tourism market, Mesquida said Spanish government lays great emphasis on its relationship with China and is optimistic about the prospect of China’s tourism market. He also said Spain intends to become the largest tourist destination for Chinese travelers. To this end, he said, Spain will step up its advertising and promotional efforts in China, build the brand of Spanish tourism concerning the countries’ culture, shopping facilities and cuisine, and carry out joint promotion in Asia with France and Italy.

Shao Qiwei expressed his appreciation of Spanish government’s efforts and suggested the tourism department of Spain should make use of the tourism promotion platforms established at national or regional level in China, and carry out promotion via the media and the Internet.

The two parties also discussed issues on increasing direct passenger flights, simplifying visa  application procedures, language training, etc.

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