NINGBO is promoting itself as an emerging MICE destination in Yangtze River Delta, given its advantageous location and infrastructure. Easy transportation and abundant hospitality have been laid out to woo travelers both from home and abroad to the city and the region.

“I think Ningbo as a MICE destination will be recognized in the future as the city has everything needed to develop its tourism including international-brand hotels, cuisine, scenic spots and especially its convenient transportation, which is crucial for not only tourism but every aspect of economic development,” said Meng Zhijun, the chairman of Taiwan Class A Travel Agency Association.

Meng attended the 2016 Ningbo International Tour Operators Conference which was held from November 16 to 20 in the city. It was organized by Ningbo Tourism Bureau, which had invited 80 representatives from international travel agencies to discuss customized Ningbo routes for tourists.

Most of the representatives came from Taiwan and Macau as they are the two main customer-source places.

According to Ningbo Tourism Bureau, Ningbo had received a total of 719,900 tourists from outside Chinese mainland who spent US$366 million in the city in the first half of this year. It was up 5.68 percent and 9.31 percent, respectively. Nearly half of the tourists — about 336,900 people — came from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

“We started exploring MICE market in Ningbo about five years ago and we have achieved certain grades. Ningbo actually has good MICE travel resources with its infrastructure completed early with the support of a strong economy and abundant scenic spots that offer multiple choices for different tourists,” said Chen Gang, deputy director of Ningbo Tourism Bureau.

Ningbo enjoys a location advantage as it is near the port as well as at the center of Yangtze River Delta. Hangzhou Bay Cross-sea Bridge in the north connects the city with Shanghai, which is just two hours by road.

It is also a hub of high-speed trains in the southern coastal area of China.

“We have approximately 200 high-speed trains running from Ningbo to most cities in China. I myself take the train to Beijing, which just takes five hours. The third phase, which is the expansion of the Ningbo Lishe International Airport, will also facilitate tourism here,” said Mao Le, deputy director of Ningbo Tourism Image Promotion Center.

According to Ningbo Tourism Bureau, the third-phase expansion work of the Ningbo Lishe International Airport is expected to be completed and ready for use in 2019. On completion, it will boost the visitors’ number to 12 million a year. There are 74 non-stop flights starting from Ningbo that connects 50 destinations including Japan, South Korea, Singapore and China’s Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

“This year, the non-stop flights will connect Ningbo to the Czech Republic and Hungary,” said Mao.

Apart from its transportation advantage, the hospitality in Ningbo has also been a turning point this year.

According to the data issued by Ningbo Tourism Bureau, the rate of booking in Ningbo’s hotels reached 52.39 percent in the first half of this year, which was an increase of 3.79 percentage points than last year. The average room price was 352 yuan (US$50.9) per day, up 1.29 percent.

The bureau also said that there are total 140 star-rated hotels in Ningbo, including 22 five-star hotels. The local government is trying to promote the hospitality industry by combining accommodation with scenic spots.

“During the slack season, we will organize hotels and scenic spots deals in the city to promote tourism. Usually it means getting a room for a day at top hotels offering great discounts plus a cheap ticket to enter a scenic spot around the hotel. Those travel coupons with numerous choices of hotels and scenic spots are compiled into travel brochures. About 40,000 of them were issued this year,” said Mao.

Supported by its infrastructure, the scenic spots in Ningbo, featuring an abundance of cultural relics and natural landscapes, are becoming the travel products that are customized for people from different countries and regions.

“We are designing customized traveling routes to promote Ningbo resources in the MICE market, such as traveling to Dongqian Lake. People can ride bikes around the lake and take a dip at the hot springs there. We are also building a base for film shooting in Xikou Town, Chiang Kai-shek’s birthplace. The buildings are preserved there and people still wear clothes of that era,” Mao said.

The customized designs are based on the research and analysis of customers and even the Big Data analysis.

“Ningbo joined ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) in 2014, an international platform where travel organizations from the world will share their data of tourism industry. As a member, we can find our potential customers through Big Data analysis supported by the international platform as well as design intriguing traveling routes targeted at a specific group of tourists,” Mao said.

A successful customized travel route has been promoted into the market of South Korea.

“We made a customized traveling route last year for people from South Korea, combining Xuedou Mountain in Fenghua District and Shenxianju Scenic Spot in Taizhou, all famous locales. South Koreans loved it very much as they regard the mountains as holy symbols. They helped to promote Ningbo tourism in South Korea,” said Chen.

According to Ningbo Tourism Bureau, South Korean tourists traveling to Ningbo had increased by 13.21 percent in the first half of this year.

There is one 5A tourist resort and 48 3A and 4A tourist resorts in Ningbo. The activity that was organized this time took those international representatives to scenic spots including Cicheng Town, Tianyige Museum, Seventeen Houses of Zhengs, Dongqian Lake and Xikou Town.

“Taiwanese prefer relaxed trips such as the long boat trip on Dongqian Lake and I think it would be a good idea to transform the boats in Dongqian Lake scenic spot to have facilities supporting KTV and partying inside,” said Meng from Taiwan Class A Travel Agency Association.

Meng also showed great interest in Xikou Town. He said most of the people in Taiwan know little about the stories of Chiang Kai-shek when he was very young and Xikou, as Chiang’s birthplace, would be a hot traveling destination for Taiwanese to read and learn about the place where he was born and grew up.

Customized traveling is also required for people of different age groups in order to meet their different needs and considerations.

“Most people coming to travel on the Chinese mainland are the elderly who want to visit temples or historic relics. If Ningbo wants to attract younger groups, for example, from Macau, I think, it could be a good idea to build more shopping facilities with attractive products and quality-guaranteed cuisine,” said Bill Pun, general manager of Travel Department in China Travel Service (Macao) Co, a company of Nam Kwong Group in Macau.

“As an organizer who designs students’ traveling, safety will be my first consideration. I think Songlan Mountain with beach in Xiangshan County and the wetland in Hangzhou Bay New Zone will be our choices, instead of steady mountains,” said Roger Lin, director of event planning in Escola Catolica Estrela do Mar, a Catholic school in Macau.

“Also, it could be great for our students to have fun together with students of local schools in Ningbo.”