The best of Britain is on show in China this week as
VisitBritain chairman Nick de Bois leads the agency’s first trade mission
to the country since 2019.
Destination
Britain China and North East Asia, taking place from 22 to 24 November in
Shanghai, is bringing together 43 industry suppliers
from across Britain with 69 top buyers from China, Hong Kong, Japan and South
Korea to do business.
More
than 2,000 one-to-one business appointments are set to take place during the
three-day trade fair. Travel buyers will have the chance to connect with
British tourism suppliers to learn about the latest products and innovations on
offer from across Britain’s tourism industry.
The
British suppliers, many of whom are attending the event in China for the first
time, include hotels, visitor attractions, destination management companies,
retailers, tour and sightseeing operators, spanning the length and breadth of
the nations and regions.
Nick de Bois said: “It is fantastic to be leading VisitBritain’s trade mission to
China, the first since 2019, a timely and valuable opportunity to boost the
recovery from this incredibly important visitor market.
“This mission marks a major milestone for us to reconnect with the
travel trade across China and North East Asia and for British travel suppliers
and destinations to get their tourism products and services in front of top
buyers and explore new business opportunities.
“With pent-up demand for travel and with Britain back on China’s
Approved Destination Status list, this trade mission is also a valuable chance
to promote our welcome and to hear first-hand from buyers on the motivations
and trends driving outbound travel from the region.”
As
well as doing business, delegates and media will hear about international
travel market trends alongside seminars from VisitScotland, UK Visas and
Immigration, Kendal Mountain Film Festival and Virgin Atlantic Airways, to
boost knowledge of Britain as a visitor destination and drive urgency to visit.
VisitBritain will also be showcasing its GREAT Britain ‘See Things Differently’
campaign promoting the fresh and exciting experiences on offer, inspiring
visitors to explore more of Britain and to travel across the seasons.
VisitBritain’s
research shows that airline routes and seat capacity from China are showing
strong recovery, flight bookings are continuing to build back and the UK is
high on the wish list of Chinese travellers. Its latest forecast shows that
China is set to return to the UK’s second most valuable visitor market in the next
two years.
Flight bookings from China to the UK are currently tracking at
about 50 per cent of 2019 levels, showing significant improvements from January when
bookings were just 6 per cent.
As well as its Destination Britain China and North East Asia trade
mission, VisitBritain continues to work closely with industry and partners in
market to promote Britain’s tourism offer.
