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City wooes more int'l agencies
The local authority is accelerating its efforts to attract more overseas tourists to Shanghai by allowing more international travel agencies access to the local market, said Zhu Chengrong, director of the International Tourism Development Department. Since China announced it had granted permission for foreign share-holders and solely-owned travel agencies to operate last July, international partners and investors from Germany, the United States, Japan and various Southeast Asian countries have moved into the Shanghai market, said Zhu. Foreign-invested travel agencies can do all kinds of business that Chinese agencies can do at present, except outbound travel services, explained Zhu. The commission estimates that Shanghai is expected to receive 3.5 million overseas tourists, with a total revenue of US$2.6 billion. In addition, the city is to host 95 million domestic visitors this year, according to the commission. Shi Tiehua, chief publicity official with the commission, said that Shanghai aims to become an international tourism centre with its "classic urban culture" and "international commercial, exhibition and conference services." |
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