Tourism reflects China's opening up, quotes from WTO Beijing assembly

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Tourism reflects China's opening up, quotes from WTO Beijing assembly

"I hope you can visit Hungary and introduce it to more Chinese friends," said Bela Pal, secretary of State in charge of tourism in Hungary.

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"I hope you can visit Hungary and introduce it to more Chinese friends," said Bela Pal, secretary of State in charge of tourism in Hungary.

The European nation will formally welcome private Chinese travelers from November 1. Many representatives attending 15th session of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) General Assembly here agreed, tourist guides in their nations were trained to speak Chinese and hotels tried to cater for Chinese needs.

"China, such a big country, is now becoming an important tourism source nation for us. I want to tell every Chinese I meet, we are fully ready to welcome you," said Dato' Mohd. Azmi Razak, secretary general of Malaysian Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism. The nation hosted nearly 600,000 Chinese visitors last year.

"This is the first time I ever visited China. From Beijing airport to China World Hotel, from the main streets to department stores, I did not find much difference between Beijing and that of London or Paris," said Luis Correia da Silva, secretary of State for Portuguese tourism. "The only difference here might be people serving in the hotel elevators speak more fluent English than other people's Chinese."

"I almost found the future Olympic city here, although I am not an official from the sports department. I felt the hospitality, warmth, curiosity and capability. Yesterday evening, when I strolled along the street, a high school student came up to me and asked me to correct his English pronunciation. I told him I should learn Chinese from him," said Dimitrios Georgakopoulos, Greek Vice-Minister of Development.

Jordan gained approved destination status from the Chinese government during the assembly. Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Samer Tawil said, "We are very happy to expect groups of Chinese travelers. In the previous years, the trade and business department are more involved with China. Currently people from my ministry are also busy, because rich Chinese hope to travel around the world.

"I planned to do some shopping when visiting China this time, but I did not need to exchange money. Many business people I know are doing business with China and they have Chinese yuan. On the one hand, China's strong economy made the yuan stable and reliable. On the other hand, we have so many Chinese tourists." The nation received some 700,000 Chinese tourists last year, and the number is expected to surpass one million soon.

"In 1970s, flights crammed with Japanese tourists became one of the symbols of Japan's economic miracles. Right now, we can easily find Chinese travelers in world airports. For the global tourism community, scenic spots all around the world are becoming Chinese villages to some extent," said Geoffrey Lipman, special advisor to the WTO.

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