Vice Chairman of CNTA Mr. Zhu Shan-zhong with British Minister of Tourism Mr. Penrose

During a recent official meeting between the Vice Chairman of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Mr. Zhu Shan-zhong and the British Minister of Tourism Mr. Penrose, Vice Chairman Mr. Zhu quoted the official figures from CNTA that between January to August 2010 the total number of Chinese going abroad reached almost 38 Million which represents 21% increase for the same period of last year.  The total number of Chinese visitors to the UK increased 23.3% over last year.

Such rapid growth confirmed further acceleration of outbound travel from China as CNTA reported 19% increase for the first five months of the year early in June and attributed the outbound tourism boost to stable development of China's economy and the appreciation of the Yuan against the US dollar and other foreign currencies.

CNTA also confirmed the number of destinations that have signed the ADS agreement with China reached 139 with 110 having effected already with Canada being one of the last large destinations having effected ADS in June this year.

Minister Mr. John Penrose delivered warm welcome to the delegation and congratulated CNTA on the great progress of Chinese tourism as well as the successful hosting of Beijing Olympic Games and Shanghai World Expo. He introduced the development of tourism in the UK and the preparing work of the London Olympics 2012, looking forward to enhance communication and cooperation between the two countries.

Prior to visiting the UK the CNTA delegation also visited Italy and France where the delegation met Mr. Christian Mantei, CEO of Atout France. During more than 3 hours’ discussion, Mr. Christian Mantei briefed the delegation of the development of Atout France as well as its main functions. Besides, the delegation also visited official Tourist Information Centres and leisure facilities provided by relevant authorities in the host countries.

More than 100 million Chinese will travel abroad by 2015, according to the latest projections from the CNTA. Chinese tourists are likely to spend USD100 billion on overseas trips in 2015, Shao Qiwei, Chairman of the CNTA, forecast. The projection is based on every Chinese tourist currently spending USD1,000 on each outbound trip and the estimation that Chinese tourists will make 100 million overseas trips by 2015.

Relevant news in Chinese: 祝善忠率代表团会见英国与法国旅游部官员