【Summit Senior Figures Interview】Interview with Nigel David,Business Development Director APAC region, World Travel & Tourism Council: The Development of the Tourism in China Is Very Impressive

Mr. David said, “Economic social impact on tourism industry is the key driver of the global economy, it now accounts for about 10% of global GDP, in the travel and social industry, plenty of jobs are required. People around the global are employee.” Mr. David thought that travel and tourism is one of the key pillars that drive economic and social growth. To stay on the path of tourism, first of all you have to have the investments in the infrastructure. Then you have to have a marketing plan. “Look at the investment that China is making in the infrastructure, within the next three years, over 724 billion dollars will be spent on infrastructure like high speed rails, new airports; these are very impressive investments China is making.”

“As many as significant growth, there always going to be challenges, I think some of the challenges are pretty environmental and turn to some of the natural resources, culture heritage of a country need to be protected and maintain for the future. But I think China recognizes this and within the ‘One Road One Belt’ policy, it is focuses increasingly on sustainable tourism and it will be positive development stand forward.” Mr. David said, “China has about 50 million international visitors every year and I think this is opportunity to improve the number of the people from international market. First I would say China need to improve the visa arrangements, make it easier for people to travel to China. The second area for me is how the market themselves the country involve. China has natural essays and cultural heritages sector. But that is lack of understanding about these on the international market. For me I think it is something around an international marketing campaign. It has to sustain of a period of time.”

When mentioning the important role that shared economy plays in the tourism industry, Mr. David said that the shared economy is very important to the tourism development of a city. Business models like Airbnb allow people to open up their homes to invite local or international guests. That is a big opportunity to help transform the traditional tourism model. We believe that the advantage and potential of shared economy will be a win-win situation in the future development of tourism industry.

Mr. David, who mentioned that it was first time in Chongqing, also said that it was the first time he attended the Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit. “It is an impressive and professional event. People from different places get together to communicate and seeking the cooperation opportunities. I think it is a great event.”