VisitBritain, the official tourism website for Great Britain, will be wooing the Chinees market, with a tourism delegation from the UK set to visit Shanghai, in China, this week.
The visit is part of a trade mission, and will be aiming to re-ignite the interests of Chinese travellers in the UK, following the London 2012 Olympic games. The delegation will be meeting important Chinese travel agents through appointments and seminars.
Keith Beecham, the leader of the China mission and director of overseas for VisitBritain, said, ‘The UK tourism opportunities from China are vast, numerous and there to be developed further, especially in this crucial post-London 2012 period.
Such was the demand from the industry that our mission could have been booked more than three times over. Everyone now recognises that China is a hugely important market for tourism and these business trips will help us achieve our target of welcoming 382,000 Chinese visitors by 2020.’
Recent research shows that the UK remains an attractive tourist destination for people from China, who are drawn to the country’s culture and heritage, countryside and shopping experiences.
In the last five years, the UK has seen a 39 percent increase in visitors from China, and the agency intends to increase this by 150 percent by 2020.
Earlier, VisitBritain announced its new ‘The Big British Invite’ campaign, featuring real British people, who will be inviting tourists to visit Britain for its scenic places and experiences. In its new phase, the campaign will be placing advertising aimed at travellers in the US, India, China, Japan and the Middle East.
The agency will be investing £5m for its partnership with British Airways to persuade travellers to visit Britain for Christmas shopping and to avail of the January sales, with a special offer from British Airways. The main campaign is running from October 2012 to March 2013.
