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Kurt Sansone
China’s lifting of restrictions last year for Chinese travelling abroad has had European tourist operators rubbing their hands with the prospect of an influx of Chinese tourists hitting the continent in 2005 and Malta is poised to tap into this market.
Malta was the first country in Europe to receive ‘approved destination status’ from China in 2001, making it easier for Chinese people to visit the island. Tourism statistics do not provide a separate figure for incoming Chinese travellers but over the past few years there has been an appreciable increase, especially in the number of Chinese students studying at University.
The number of Chinese travelling overseas is expected to swell in coming years as Beijing relaxes rules on foreign visits. This is expected to generate a new source of income for the world’s hotel, airline and travel industries. The World Tourism Organisation estimates that by 2020 the number of Chinese tourists will reach 100 million.
Chinese travellers could be a lucrative source of income for Malta’s tourism sector and the minister for tourism has been co-ordinating efforts with other ministries to improve procedures for the issuing of visas for Chinese nationals a spokesperson for the Malta Tourism Authority told MaltaToday.
The spokesperson said that in 2001 MTA launched a marketing plan for China, which included the opening of an office in Beijing.
“The MTA is now pursuing its marketing efforts in China and is looking to tapping into important commercial centres such as Shanghai.
“The MTA’s marketing plan for China includes a PR programme whereby Chinese journalists are invited to visit the islands, the provision of information via the Chinese version of its destination website www.visitmalta.com, the publication of a guide book and the distribution of promotional material on the Maltese Islands in Chinese,” the spokesperson said.
According to the London Financial Times, European travel agents expect the most popular destinations to be France, Italy and Switzerland. With its rich history, Malta could very well enjoy a spin-off from China’s relaxed attitude towards overseas travel.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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