Dear IMTA Chairman Mr.Dominique de Villepin, Vice Chairman Mr. Shao Qiwei, Secretary-General Mr. He Yafei, dear Vice Governor Mr. Lu Yongzheng, dear colleagues of various organizations, ladies and gentleman, dear friends, Good afternoon.
It is a pleasure to be here today in Guizhou, a mesmerizing province blessed with abundant spectacular natural wonders. It is only be fitting that IMTA has founded its home base here, in particular this headquarter building is itself an impressive work of art; everywhere I look, I see inspiration from mother nature. I am honored to witness its opening today and I look forward to the promising works which will be done under these roofs in the future.
GTEF every year we look at the performance of Asian tourism and emerging trends. This year we have also included, and in its two special chapters, health tourism and sports tourism. At these two fast growing tourism segments are integral components of mountain destinations.
I see it as a good opportunity to share some of the key takeaways with you here. We should explore today together the driving forces behind Asian tourism development, wellness and sports tourism, and finally how mountain tourism is particularly conducive to a beautiful life and UN's SDG goals.
Tourism has continued to grow at an astonishing speed across Asia and China. Since year 2000, visitor numbers have tripled and tourism receipts have doubled currently sharing a third of the world's total. Last year, Asian arrivals increased by another 7%, one out of four travelers is Asia bound.
Internal regional travel continues to dominate with nearly 80% of arrivals in Asia originated from Asia itself. China's tourism performance both domestic and abroad, continued to make headlines in the industry driven by a robust economy and hence air and railway connectivity, rising middle class and favorable travel policies.
Inbound, China is the top destination in Asia and fourth in the world, welcoming 63 million visitors. Outbound, China of course is the world's top source market with Chinese travelers making 150 million trips in 2018, an increase of 10.8%. It is also the world's top tourism spender accounting for more than half of Asia's tourism expenditure and almost one fifth of the world's international tourism receipts. Domestically travel is equally strong, registering 5.5 billion visitor trips.
The strong fundamentals of Asian tourism have brought about thought based growth, not only in first tier tourism cities, but in a diverse range of destinations. In particular, investors are putting that capital in tourism segments that can address the rapidly maturing consumption habits and attitudes among visitors.
Our new generation of travelers is increasingly taking trips in search of in depth and meaningful experiences as we just heard from the Excellency Chairman Dominique de Villepin, seeing our world through the lens of other cultures with growing sophistication and effluence, they have moved beyond mass market holidays and are walking into local communities seeking authentic local experiences.
This echoes well with Mr. Dai Bing’s remark made at the immediate past eighth edition of GTEF; we now see a collapse of the invisible war between locals and tourists with increased sharing and resources and sharing of the living cycle fueled by this paradigm shift. It shall come as no surprise that mountain tourism is a top contender for growth, a perfect showcase of the harmonious interplay of natural scenery, biodiversity climate and indigenous cultures. Moreover, the cultural values of mountain destinations are exemplary as these regions are inhabited by a considerable proportion of China's 55 ethnic minority groups who have developed unique traditions and distinct ways of life. As Mr. Len Zhen pointed out also at GTEF, their special customs can become valuable intellectual properties which will attract both international visitors and tourists when promoted with the right mix of tourism products, mountain destinations post strong potentials.
Here, we will look at two aspects of such, wellness and sports, the nature of which are intrinsically conducive to the sustainable developments of mountain destinations.
Wellness tourism, long rooted in the tradition and culture of Asia is the concept of body, mind, spirit, connections, services related to wellbeing, already foam and important part of the tourism product range and many destinations such as India's yoga, Japan's holistic SPA resorts and hot springs with consumers shifting emphasis from cure to care. Many countries have now identified health and wellness tourism as a key strategy for development.
We see here a list of top eight attributes that are fundamental to a successful wellness destination. Natural resources and environment and traditions make up the perfect trinity as tourists are not only driven by health motivations but also cultural aspirations setting off on wellness trips to experience and learn about traditions and heritage.
In fact, wellness culture is long intertwined with Chinese traditions. These Asian practices provide us with a strong foundational basis where upon authentic holistic retreats and diversified offerings can be developed.
China's is already Asia's leader in wellness tourism. It was estimated to have received over 70 million trips a year domestic and internationally combined. On an international wellness oriented trip, tourists can spend up to $3,000 per trip and $180 per day on wellness services. Currently there are more than 180 SPA destinations and as many as 8,000 bathhouses in China. Yet over 70% are located within hotels in urban cities. Given the huge demand, there are substantial potentials for mountain destinations with unique emphasis on their natural appeal.
It is also interesting to note that since 2014 over 100 Chinese temples have started holding themed meditation camps. Tourists stay overnight to enjoy the landscapes, speak with monks and mentors and share experiences with likeminded individuals. These are also experiences that cannot easily be replicate by destinations elsewhere.
Sports tourism. Next we turn our focus to the sports arena. One of the most dynamic sectors in Asia, which is attracting high income groups mostly in their thirties and forties.
A number of factors have contributed to its demand growth. People are more health conscious and are devoting more time to stay active, not only in their daily lives but also on holiday. They also seek to challenge themselves to pursue self achievement and socially to connect with likeminded enthusiasts at the events.
Mountain destinations can benefit greatly from sports tourism because first there are hardly any barriers of culture or language. Secondly, it is resilient as tourists are willing to travel in off peak seasons, which is actually instrumental in resolving the prevailing over tourism trends. Also, it's spends every demographic. In fact, sports tourists and events are constantly seeking new destinations to maintain differentiation.
Sports programs are promoted as an overall experience combined with the local, natural and cultural resources. For instance, the great wall marathon, which started in 1999 is considered one of the world's most challenging marathon, attracting around 2,500 runner worldwide.
Hiking and cycling have become important components as they offer a convenient, clean and healthy way to enjoy the landscape and engage with locals, those through local guides or excursion tours, tourists can learn very deeply about its culture and history and be invited into locals homes and be engaged with locals’ everyday lives.
And equivocally that key focal point of mountain tourism in China right now is winter sports. Following Beijing's success in bidding of the 2022 winter Olympics games and state councils mandate to significantly expand winter sports and it's 2016 five year tourism plan.
Just five years ago, the culture of skiing is almost nonexistent in China. Yet last year Ctrip had estimated the number of tourists traveling to winter tourism destinations having reached 197 million with revenue topping $ 49 billion. China is intending to build 800 ski resorts with many Northern provinces already aggressively capitalizing on this golden opportunity. Nationally, the central government is investing heavily in the promotion of sports participation. In 2016 a national strategy for sports tourism development was drafted and visiting 100 sports themed destinations and 100 qualities sports events being created by 2030 with the aim of drawing 1 billion domestic and foreign tourists visits annually.
Just a few days ago, we learned of China's successful bidding of the FITA Club World Cup four year 2021, the determination of our government is strong and clear. It is high time for mountain destinations to capitalize on this wave of expansion and forge it, distinctive sports brand in the world seen. For many mountain economies there are often limited possibilities of development apart from farming and hurting, tourism is the only other income generator for the locals. Its sustainability depends on keeping the fair job mountain environments and landscapes intact.
14 years ago, president Xi, first made the famous remark, “绿水青山就是金山银山”, lucid waters and lush mountains are worth gold and silver. Not only was our president referring to the immediate economic values of natural resources, but more importantly their ability to feel long-term benefits in the overall future of local communities. Tourism is known to possess strong multiplier effect that helps drive cross sectorial growth in areas such as infrastructure, transportation, arts, IT, sports and education. As a result, tourists will not only be the beneficiaries from tourism investments, but the whole destination and the whole community as all its people will enjoy this over spreading and 300 degree economic and social gains.
Ms.Feld from the World Bank Group also shared at the GTEF tourism is attracting global capital due to its triple bottom line asset allocation approach offering return on investments that are financial, social and environmental; in particular projects that score high in these three categories are most likely going to attract investments, mountain tourism is certainly high in priority’ on the capital Margaret agenda. Since the 19th national Congress, China has been on a strong will quest to create beautiful life for its people, calling for the equitable sharing of resources, harmony with our environment as well as respect and collaboration with the world. These are precisely in line with UN 2030 SDG goals which spell out the 17 objectives we must all aim to achieve.
Dear friends, as stakeholders in the tourism industry, we are very fortunate to be in a great position to make a difference through our works and my sharing today with a view words from Mother Nature.
Thank you very much for having me here and I wish the forum a resounding success.
Thank you.
