China Daily Hong Kong Edition: Finding China’s tourism de force(图文)

China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable examines how China’s private enterprises can go global to help upgrade the nation’s nascent tourism industry. Wong Joon San reports.
While the GTEF has been bombarded with many proposals, one that stands out is the suggestion it plays a much greater role in future tourism development by focusing its efforts on a particular country, and on promoting a certain business model for attracting foreign investment to that nation as well as other projects.
Speaking at the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable themed “Perspective from China International Chamber of Commerce for the Private Sector on Mainland Private Enterprises”, held in Macao on Sept 19, Zheng Yuewen, founder and chairman of Creat Group, said by doing so, the forum could effectively promote one country at a time.
“The GTEF could promote lesser-known countries with good infrastructure, such as island countries. In addition, they could also promote other projects and try to get more investments. These countries could also showcase themselves at the event,” he told participants at the roundtable event held at the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel. Alexander Wan, senior adviser of China Daily Asia Pacific, was the moderator.
The China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable was hosted by the Macao SAR, co-organized by the China Chamber of Tourism and coordinated by the Global Tourism Economy Research Office. It was held in conjunction with the two-day Global Tourism Economy Forum.
Zheng said when Chinese companies purchase tourism-related foreign assets, they must have a proper aim and focus, like the example of Dalian Wanda Group, a successful overseas investor from the private sector.
Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin thrust his Dalian Wanda Group into the headlines in Europe in June this year with its $1 billion investment in two projects in the UK: the purchase of a 92 percent stake in yacht-maker Sunseeker and a high-end real estate development in London. It was also announced at the weekend that Wang plans to build China’s biggest film studio, a direct appropriation of Hollywood in the city of Qingdao.
Wanda’s acquisition of Sunseeker, and its London property are partially because of the fast-rising number of rich Chinese, too. More significantly, through projects abroad, Wanda can extend its operations overseas and become an international name as a high-end market developer, as well as adding value to its reputation domestically.
For Wanda, well-known for its commercial properties, hotels, tourism and entertainment, replicating its projects everywhere is easy. And Wanda stands out because it has been able to enjoy good returns and retain strong credibility.
Commenting on tourists to the mainland, Wang Ping, chairman of the China Chamber of Tourism and vice-chairman of the GTEF, said there were 3 billion inbound tourists in 2012, a figure that will rise this year to 4-5 billion, and perhaps, reach 5 billion in two to three years.
Investors, while considering overseas investments, should also be aware of local opportunities such as Zhangjiajie, a city in Hunan province, which attracted 39 million visitors last year. Between January and July, a small village there attracted 5 million visitors, she said.
Commenting on private sector involvement in tourism, Fu Jun, chairman of the board of directors and the president of Macrolink Group Ltd, said the private sector had been involved in tourism development since reforms were introduced in this sector several years ago.
“However, they faced three serious challenges. The first being transformation and upgrades of the sector; second, cultivation of its core competitiveness; and, third, the Chinese private sector must not be too proud of its achievements, and become complacent,” Fu warned.
He pointed out that China’s tourism sector was unable to meet the country’s rapidly rising tourist demand, despite the development of some resorts in Hunan.
Fu said his group had developed resorts on the mainland under its own brand name and was currently negotiating with Marriott and Sheraton to build other hotels.
In addition to turning to investments abroad, Fu said: “We have to go global as countries like Libya and Zambia are attracting lots of Chinese people. We have heard that Chinese people are curious to go to those places, and I would like to go there too.”
As a sector supporting tourism, Jane Fountain, managing director of Harmony World Watch Center, said women loved shopping and tourism was a healthy way of living. “When they go on tours, they buy things (including watches) for their friends,” she said.
She also related how she and her classmates from wealthy families in China traveled to Europe and the USA to see the retail sector’s high standards and to gain a better first-hand idea of how local brands fared against them.
“My own company works with famous international watch brands such as Omega in Hong Kong, and I also promote my own local brand,” she said, adding that her business was thriving well.
Commenting on the dip in sales on the mainland due to the anti-corruption drive against government officials, particularly if they purchased a watch at a cost of more than 50,000 yuan ($8,170), Fountain said: “If people in pursuit of beauty can afford to buy a watch for over 50,000 yuan, why not?”
She pointed out that 50 percent to 70 percent of global watch brands’ customers are from China.
Peter Wong, chairman of MK Corp Ltd and vice-chairman of GTEF, who shared his views of China’s tourism transformation from traditional to modern practices, said that since 1996, the private sector had been encouraged to invest in tourism and had received strong support from the World Travel and Tourism Council.
However, China’s tourism development had not been a smooth process, he said, adding that the not-for-profit organization GTEF had published a report in 2007 which had proposed changes to the system involving the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Railways.
Through the report, GTEF had urged the central government to upgrade the Tourism Bureau to ministry level, a proposal that was put on the back burner.
Wong said this is a key matter as to whether or not GTEF had to approach the National Development and Reform Commission to achieve it or to contact local governments.
Yang Bin, professor and senior associate dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, said the development of the Chinese tourism industry lacked “cultural spirit and soul”, so most initiatives were confined to single locations and were merely real-estate projects.
He told investors who wished to invest in overseas tourism projects that they had to buy both the hardware and the software to provide tourists with a “tourist experience”.
Have infrastructure, will travel
Tourism in China has just taken off and is still at a nascent stage, said Fu Jun, chairman of the board of directors and the president of Macrolink Group Ltd.
In a question and answer session following the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable event, Fu said his company was optimistic over the sustainability of the cultural and tourism industry on the mainland.
Fu’s company had purchased a piece of land in Shanghai recently for 1.7 billion yuan ($278 million) to build a hotel project in anticipation of a rise in hospitality service demand when Disneyland was completed. It is scheduled to open in December 2015, and expected to attract 20 million visitors per year.
Jane Fountain, managing director of Harmony World Watch Center, said some of her CEO friends had visited Chengdu in Southwest China’s Sichuan province and found it a beautiful place, but lacked tourists as there were no good hotels, and infrastructure was not up to international standards.
Peter Wong, chairman of MK Corp Ltd and vice-chairman of GTEF, said although there were hotels in some cities, the infrastructure was not well-connected in some places. He urged authorities to build roads for better connections.