Experts have already expected that China have to lower some boundaries for foreign companies who want to enter the Chinese tourism market in the context of China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Finally China has announced, four month before the official deadline for the terms set by the WTO, that they will soon “fully open” the Chinese domestic travel market to foreign owned travel agencies.

The head of the CNTA (China National Tourism Administration) Shao Qiwei, said that China is welcoming the entry of big international tourism companies and that the new competition will help to enhance Chinese tourism companies as well.

In China the tour operators have different authorisations to handle tourists. Therefore they are separated in three classes of tour operators:

1. IATA tour operators who can perform outbound-, inbound- and domestic tourism in China. In 2003 their have been round about 500 tour operators of this class.
2. International tour operators who can treat inbound and domestic tourists. In 2002 their have been round about1200 tour operators of this class
3. National tour operators who can work only on the domestic tourism market. In 2002 their have been 10.203 from this kind of tour operators.
   

The first official list of Chinese outbound IATA tour operators have been published in the year 2000 from the CNTA.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has chosen Brian Deeson to be the new Chairman of the association. Brian Deeson is living and working in Shanghai. He thinks that the most challenging problems for the travel industry are the human resource shortages and of course the global warming.

I think mentioning these problems could help finding solutions to do something for the world and the industry on the same time.

More information about Brian Deeson could be found on China Hospitality News.
eeson, who is CEO, Greater China and senior vice president, Asia Pacific for the Accor hotel group, told the group’s Annual General Meeting in Vancouver that global warming and human resource shortages were the two biggest challenges facing the industry.