The 2019 Sharjah Tourism Roadshow was successfully held in Beijing on 16th September, Chengdu on 18th September and Shanghai on 20th September. This fruitful event was organized by Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) with the support of CBN Travel & MICE and World Travel Online, has attracted more than 240 participants from over 200 Chinese tour operators and airline ticket agents in these three cities.

 

The Chairman of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa delivered a welcome speech at the beginning of the roadshow. “China is considered a key partner country of the emirate of Sharjah and the UAE. The local hospitality sector welcomed a total of 122,328 Chinese tourists in 2018 alone, keeping its market share to 7 percent from the total number of hotel guests in 2018. These figures once again highlight the significance of the mainland as a large outbound travel market for us. This is the most opportune time to visit Sharjah and the UAE. For one, coming to the UAE has been made easy following the government’s announcement that Chinese visitors can travel to this country without visa.”

He also mentioned that Sharjah hopes to attract as many as 200,000 Chinese visitors by 2021. He is confident that Sharjah will attract more visitors from  mainland China following the roadshow and as a result of visa waiver policy.

 

 

 

During the roadshow, Ms. Xiuhuan Gao, Head of Division - Asia Market of SCTDA also delivered a comprehensive presentation introducing Sharjah’s rich history, colorful festivals and events, various tourists attractions and activities, unique cultural heritage, hotels, and other diverse related offerings to the Chinese tour operators and airline ticket agents onsite.

“ Culture is the core strength of Sharjah,”Ms. Xiuhuan Gao said, “but Sharjah has more that make Chinese tourists be reluctant to leave, such as family activities, desert adventure, seaside leisure, wildlife exploration, architectures, natural sceneries and the other creative activities. In addition, it is very convenient that it takes only over 10 mins’ drive from Dubai airport to Sharjah.”

 

Over 80 Chinese tour operators and airlines attended the event in Shanghai

The Chinese tour operators were attracted by the brilliant presentation and actively asked for the information, images and videos for using them in their travel products to Sharjah.

The roadshow aimed to build strong communication channels with the respective travel, tourism, and hospitality industry leaders in these cities. The Chinese tour operators and airline ticket agents had the chance to have face-to-face meetings with Sharjah’s top tour operators and hotels as well as the Emirates Airline, and learned more about their offerings which help them design their products or itineraries for Chinese market.
 

 

 

The roadshow also set a lucky draw session with several prizes provided by the hotels in Sharjah and Emirates Airline at the event in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai for all the participants before they continued networking while enjoying the sumptuous buffet meal.