Sri Lanka has finally announced its plans to roll out its global tourism marketing campaign urging tourists “You’ll Come Back For More,” marking the first such campaign since 2007.
17.11.2023 - 23:41 / skift.com / Joe Biden / Geoff Freeman / Dawit Habtemariam / Chris Thompson / Xi Jinping
The U.S. and China will improve air connectivity and streamline visa processing, said Chinese President Xi Jinping in public remarks on Wednesday. Xi made the remarks at a dinner hosted by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and US-China Business Council.
The dinner followed Xi’s meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in San Francisco.
“Today, President Biden and I reached an important consensus,” said Xi. “Our two countries will roll out more measures to facilitate travels and promote people-to-people exchanges, including increasing direct passenger flights, holding a high-level dialogue on tourism, and streamlining visa application procedures.”
Long visa wait times and weak air connectivity prevented the full resumption of Chinese tourism to the U.S. Without Chinese tourism, the U.S. can’t fully recover from the pandemic, Brand USA CEO and President Chris Thompson has said.
Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists were the U.S.’s highest spenders. “Before the pandemic, 2.6 million visitors a year spent about $15 billion. There wasn’t another market anywhere close,” said U.S. Travel Association CEO and President Geoff Freeman at the Skift Global Forum. “This is a market that in many senses will make or break what we do on the international side.”
Sri Lanka has finally announced its plans to roll out its global tourism marketing campaign urging tourists “You’ll Come Back For More,” marking the first such campaign since 2007.
The European Commission reveals the 2024 European Capital and Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism, recognising their outstanding achievements in accessibility, sustainability, digitalisation, and cultural heritage & creativity as exceptional tourism destinations.
The Forum “Open Innovation: A Development Tool for Blue Tourism””, held in Seville, focuses its attention on promoting innovation and digitalization in nautical and cruise tourism, highlighting the role of technological tools.
The Port of Seville has been the setting for an unprecedented event in the field of blue tourism: the forum “OPEN INNOVATION: A DEVELOPMENT TOOL FOR BLUE TOURISM”. This meeting brought together the main players in the nautical and port sector, with a special focus on innovation and digital transformation, key elements for the future of this industry. The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport of the Junta de Andalucía, Víctor González, stressed in his speech the essentiality of adopting innovative approaches in tourism: “Innovation is not just an option, but a necessity on the road to a more sustainable and efficient blue tourism. This forum is a clear example of how Andalusia is at the forefront of this transformation”.
Wait times for first-time visitor visas in Colombia, Mexico and India stretching to hundreds of days will continue to be a headache for the U.S. travel industry.
According to online travel agency Trip.com, China is broadening its unilateral visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from six nations—France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia—in an effort to bolster the recovery of the East Asian giant’s tourism sector industry. For now, the program is being implemented on a trial basis, with plans to keep it in effect from December 1, 2023, to November 30, 2024.
Uganda will host the 19th Summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Heads of State and Government, a forum of 120 member states from 15 to 20 January 2024, at the Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort
The acquisition operation has benefited from the expert guidance of the consulting firm Bluebull, an investment banking firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions for technology companies, and the specialized law firm Cuatrecasas.
The airline is also focused on accelerating the resumption and launch of more international and regional flights, aiming to better cater to the growing market demand for travel to and from China.
Malaysia will grant visa-free entry to citizens of China and India for stays of up to 30 days starting on Dec. 1, according to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Thailand expects 3.4-3.5 million visitors from China this year, which is below its target, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said on Friday, despite rolling out a visa-free program to attract Chinese tourists.
The head of China’s civil aviation regulator, Song Zhiyong, met with the U.S. Ambassador in Beijing Nicholas Burns, and exchanged views on pushing for a substantial increase in flights between the two countries, the regulator said on Wednesday.