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US books 73 booths at travel fair amid expected tourism boom
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ON the heels of a new visa policy announced earlier this week, the United States is stepping up efforts to lure Chinese tourists with more than 70 booths at the 2014 China International Travel Mart where it is the guest of honor.
On Monday, US President Barack Obama announced in Beijing that the US and China had agreed to a reciprocal 10-year visa policy for tourists and businessmen, saying the move would “benefit everyone.”
Citizens of both countries can travel between the two countries for up to 10 years on a single visa.
Organizers of the travel fair in Shanghai said yesterday that the US will have 73 booths during the three-day event which opens today.
In addition, Disney Resort will have its own separate display at the event.
“The new visa policy is beneficial for the tourism market because it saves the hassles of preparing materials for the US visa applications repeatedly, besides saving on the fees,” said He Yiwei, deputy general manager of Shanghai Datong Travel Agency.
He expects Chinese travelers to visit the US at least two or three times.
In 2013, about 1.8 million Chinese mainland tourists visited the US, which was up 23 percent from a year earlier, according to the US Department of Commerce.
They spent about US$9.8 billion in the US last year, a rise of 12 percent.
The number of Chinese mainland tourists is projected to climb by 21 percent to 2.1 million this year, with an annual increase of about 20 percent through 2018.
Online travel operator Ctrip expects a boom in US travel in the next three to five years.
Washington DC, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Hawaii and San Francisco are the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists, it said.
The 2014 China International Travel Mart, to be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in the Pudong New Area, is one of the largest professional travel shows in Asia.
This year’s event will have two professional trade days exclusively for registered delegates.
The pubic will be allowed for just one day on November 16 for exhibitors to promote their products.
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