Press conference on Olympic reception service for tourists_BOCOG Official Releases

活动标题

Press conference on Olympic reception service for tourists

活动描述

A press conference on China's Olympic reception service for tourists is held on August 5 at the 2008 Beijing International Media Center (2008 BIMC). Mr. Du Jiang, vice chairman of China's National Tourism Administration briefs the press. China.org.cn presents live coverage of the press conference.

文字内容：

Zheng Baolei:
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Olympic tourism is an important part of the Olympics. The Chinese national tourism administration will organize a string of promotion activities. Today we have with us Mr. Du Jiang, Vice Chairman of China National Tourism Administration to brief us on China's tourism during the 2008 Olympic Games. Also we have with us Mr. Liu Xiaojun, Deputy Director-General, Coordination Department, China National Tourism Administration; Mr. Li Renzhi, Director-General, Industry Management Department, China National Tourism Administration, and Ms. Xiong Yumei, Director-General of Beijing Tourism Administration. Ms. Xiong has come here for the third time and the topic today is the Olympic tourism services.
2008-08-05 09:54:41
Du Jiang:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning:
I am pleased to meet with friends from the media circle at home and abroad. I would like to take this opportunity to brief you on China's Olympic tourism.
According to the experience of hosting modern Olympic Games, tourism, among others, receives the most direct, marked and sustained benefits from the Olympic Games. Therefore, China National Tourism Administration designated the year 2008 "China Olympic Tourism Year 2008" and put forward the theme of promotion named "Olympics in Beijing, Travel in China", under which a series of activities were organized.
2008-08-05 09:58:09
Du Jiang:
Firstly, in a couple of years before the Olympics, we promoted the national tourism image in diverse forms, organized and participated in various tourism expos, tourism exhibitions and tourism marts at home and abroad and organized large-scale overseas road shows. Secondly, during the Olympic Games, we launched 32 deluxe Olympic tourism routes after thorough preparation and careful arrangements. Thirdly, after the Beijing Olympic Games, we will consolidate the well established image of China's tourism levering on the attention China has drawn due to the success of the Olympic Games.
2008-08-05 10:00:03
Du Jiang :
Olympic tourism service is an important component of Olympic services. According to the unified requirements set by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), the tourism industries all over China, especially in 6 host cities and co-host cities, thoroughly checked and put into practice various requirements on tourism hospitality, implemented "the Plan on Improving Tourism Service Quality" in order to assure the high quality level of Olympic tourism by adhering to the principle of putting people first and abiding by the requirements of following the convention, practicing standardization, respecting individuality and paying attention to the details.
2008-08-05 10:00:28
Du Jiang :
Firstly, we conducted quality examination and supervision on services provided by hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, scenic spots and tour guides. Secondly, we strengthened the monitoring and management of tourism market, and especially checked and punished illegal operations or operations against regulations including "zero or negative group tour expense", fake ads, bullying or deceiving tourists, among others. Thirdly, the Olympic contract hotels strengthened their quality control over core linkages like the lobby, guest rooms, food and beverage to insure food and shopping safety as well as the personal security of the tourists. Fourthly, scenic spots strengthened the standardized management of tourist centers, parking lots, cable cars, toilets as well as wheelchair accessible tour facilities. Fifthly, we perfected our tourism products system and service system to satisfy the needs of hospitality during the Beijing Olympic Games.
2008-08-05 10:00:55
Du Jiang :
After China won the bid for the 29th Olympic Games, the number of star rated hotels in Beijing soared from 506 in 2001 to 806 by the end of 2007 with 130,000 rooms and over 250,000 beds. China National Tourism Administration transferred 30 western food chefs from Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu to Beijing contract hotels in an effort to relieve the shortage of western food chefs in Beijing.
A safe Olympiad is our solemn commitment to the international community. Tourism administrations at all levels have adopted active and effective measures to guarantee the safety of tourists during the Olympic Games. The tourism administrations of Olympic host and co-host cities will practice around-the-clock on duty system, assigning special personnel to deal with emergencies that may arise in Olympic tourism services and tourism safety. A quick complaints handling system for Olympic tourism was established to resolve problems timely and right on the spot.
2008-08-05 10:01:33
Du Jiang :
Olympic host cities and co-host cities will publish emergency complaint phone number and open tourism service hotlines. The Olympic contract hotels will make sure that every task is assigned to the proper internal department, every body knows their responsibilities, every method takes their due effect and leaves no security leaks. Travel agencies strengthened the safety check and management of important tourist groups and key linkages so as to be ready to deal with various emergencies. Tourist spots and large-size tourist activity venues will keep alert to guard against accidents that threaten tourist safety.
As for the tourism market situation during the Olympic Games, the forecast from Beijing Tourism Administration shows that during the Beijing Olympic Games, about 400,000 to 450,000 foreign tourists will visit Beijing. It is estimated that the number of international VIPs, journalists covering the game, athletes, coaches who participate in the game and domestic and international audience totals 6 to7million, some of which will tour in host and co-host cities and the rest of the country apart from participating in, watching and covering the games.
2008-08-05 10:01:55
Du Jiang :
Ladies and Gentlemen:
China's diversified natural scenes, historic and cultural relics that can be traced back to 5000 years ago, the folk customs of 56 ethnic groups constitute China's distinctive tourism resources. The 33 world natural and cultural heritages are the most representative. Thanks to the development we achieved in the work of modernization since the reform and opening-up, more and more modern tourism products were developed to attract foreign and domestic tourists. We look forward to welcoming friends from all over the world to the Olympic Games and to enjoy the beauty of China.
2008-08-05 10:02:36
Shaanxi TV :
We know that 80 percent of the foreign visitors to china will visit the ancient city of Xi'an in our province. I would like to ask the Tourism administration what efforts to encourage visitors have been made to our province. What is the position of our province in the national efforts of the tourism administration?
2008-08-05 10:03:33
Du Jiang:
Since we started to develop the tourism of famous sites of china, Xi'an and other parts of Shaanxi Province have held important part of the spots in China and abroad and actually much efforts have been made to promote the tourism resources of Xi'an and other parts of the Shaanxi Province. And in order to assist the efforts of the Shaanxi Province to further tap its resources in tourism and seize the opportunities of the Olympic Games to further expand its major attraction, we have worked with the local tourism administration to conduct promotion activities and campaigns through 18 foreign branches of the tourism administration and a series of events have already been conducted and I believe through these intensified campaigns and efforts the market of Xi'an will be expanded and the attraction for tourists in other parts of Shaanxi Province will also be enhanced.
2008-08-05 10:04:08
Reuters:
It appears that many foreigners have a negative image of China at the moment that with unrest in Tibet, terrorism in Xinjiang. Do you think this will discourage many foreigners from coming to the Olympics and how do you expect to deal with this negative image? Thank you.
2008-08-05 10:09:27
Du Jiang :
I think first of all there are some negative influences brought forth by these incidents.
And the tourism in Tibet Autonomous Region has been postponed or suspended for a while after the violent incident. And the reason we take this measure is to ensure the security of tourists from across the world. And after the incident the Chinese government as well as the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region has taken effective measures to return the situation to normal. And in order to help the foreign and domestic tourists to have nice experiences during their tours in Tibet whilst enhancing the security measures we have also improved the maintenance and preparations of the scenic spots as well as cultural and historical culture sites in Tibet.
2008-08-05 10:10:43
Du Jiang:
As you know, starting from April 24 we have resumed tourists' visits to Tibet Autonomous Region and as you know as of June 25 the visits of foreign tourists have also been resumed. And immediately after the incident took place in Lhasa the tourism administration has implemented the suspension of the tourism in Tibet Autonomous Region and informed relevant parties of the suspension. At the same time we have also requested travel agencies to stop arranging tours to Tibet Autonomous Region before the security can be ensured. With the further development of the incident the NTA has also announced the suspension of tourism to the Tibetan-inhabited areas and I think all these measures were taken to ensure the security of tourists. And we are glad to see that the tourism in Tibet Autonomous Region has been resumed very fast according to the statistics released by the tourism administration of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The total number in June was around 96,000 and the number was around 50,000 in July this year and we can see that tourism in Tibet is regaining the momentum very fast.
2008-08-05 10:12:37
The China Press:
I have two questions concerning the tourism between China and US. The first question is about the US visitors to China. Can you tell us some more information about the US tourists coming to China and we also know that it has been a month since the first group of Chinese tourists visiting the United States, so what's the latest development of Chinese tourists to the United States. My second question is during the Olympic period some overseas have complained that Chinese visas are difficult to get and Chinese hotels also see fewer visitors than they expected. You said the previous estimated number of visitors will hover around 40,000,000. Is there any difference with this figure judging the situation at the moment?
2008-08-05 10:13:15
Du Jiang:
As for your first question, with the joint efforts of the Chinese and American government, we two parties signed the ADS agreement at the end of last year and at the moment the two sides are making efforts to implement this agreement. The group tours of Chinese citizens to the United States are operating very well and we have not received any report about the leaving of Chinese citizens during the tours.
Not long ago the NTA chairmen met with the US ambassador to China and both sides were satisfied and are glad to see the development of the tourism between the two countries. At the same time the United States is also an important source of tourists to China. In fact it is the largest source of long distance traveling tourists to China. Our latest statistics show the US visitors to China during January-June period this year amounted to 938,200 and this is a large increase from the same period of last year.
2008-08-05 10:18:40
Du Jiang :
At the moment the tourism between China and the US continues to grow smoothly thanks to an established cooperative mechanism between US and China at both the national and provincial levels. Last year we have organized the leading tourism officials of 31 provinces to visit US, having dialogues with their counterparts in 50 states of the US. In November this year the second round of dialogue between leading officials from Chinese provinces and US states is going to be held here to further explore the challenges we might face in promoting our tourism cooperation.
2008-08-05 10:20:43
People's Daily:
I have two questions the first one is that we are going to see a large number of both Chinese and foreign tourists during the Olympic Games. So what efforts are we going to take to protect the cultural and historical relics? During the Olympic Games, what is the forecasted revenue from tourism and are we going to see a sharp price increase of the entrance tickets to scenic spots?
2008-08-05 10:21:38
Du Jiang:
I would like to refer this question to Mr. Li Renzhi, coordinator of the Industry Management Department
2008-08-05 10:22:17
Li Renzhi:
As for your first question about the protection of the cultural heritage and historical relics during the Olympic games, I think we have all along attached great importance to the protection of our natural sources in the advancement of tourism, as we understand that the cultural relics and other resources are the vitality for the growth of tourism -- and therefore we have always attached great importance to this aspect. We know there are going to be a large number of tourists to these sites during the Olympic Games and therefore the local departments have already made tremendous efforts in this respect.
2008-08-05 10:22:38
Li Renzhi:
As you know that China is an old ancient civilization with 5,000 years of history and therefore we boast abundance cultural and historical heritages at the same time China is a multi-nationality country, there are altogether 56 ethnic groups in china, and therefore we also have diversified folk culture. During the Olympic Games the tourism administrations in our country have promoted a series of ethnic culture tourism for the athletes, journalists, and others who come to china and the famous cities and towns with the distinctive features of industry and agriculture have also made preparations. We welcome tourists to make visits to these places. During his opening remarks Mr. Du Jiang has already mentioned the routes and products that have been presented by the NTA.
As for your second question that is the revenue of the tourism industry during the Olympic period, actually the relevant department has already made their forecast we think it is more important to ensure the security of the Olympic Games, making use of the Olympic Games to improve service quality. We believe these tasks are more important even than the revenue of the Olympic Games.
2008-08-05 10:23:47
Guiyang Television:
I'm from Guiyang Television of Guizhou Province. I have heard that you are going to open 32 routes during the Olympic Games. Are any of them going through Guiyang City? If it is not on the list, is there any work you think we should do to our city as Guiyang is known as the capital of holiday resorts. If it is on the list, are there any preparations that you think we should undertake to improve our city?
2008-08-05 10:33:37
Du Jiang :
It is a pity to say that Guiyang City is not on the list. During the Games we are going to run 32 travel routes specially offered to friends from the press and athletes from all over the world. We are doing this because we believe that before they come to China for the Olympic Games they don't have enough time to do their homework about China and these distinctive routes will allow them to learn more about the country. The fact that Guiyang City is not on the list does not mean that we do not think it is important to help Guiyang City develop its local tourism industry and develop its tourism market. As a matter of fact, earlier this year we assisted Guiyang City in launching the program of the "Summer Resort Capital" in Guizhou Province and we have also arranged a tourism development conference there.
2008-08-05 10:34:16
Du Jiang:
And earlier this year as the South of China was hit by a severe snowstorm, I personally led a delegation to Guiyang City to learn about the development there and we helped Guiyang City to expand its tourism market to the surrounding areas and even expand its appeal to the international market. Also in the first half of this year the NTA has organized several batches of foreign travel agents and media organizations from abroad to visit Guizhou Province and learn about the resources there. I think these activities have played an important role in promoting the tourism industry in Guizhou. In the months and years ahead my administration will continue to support the efforts of the Guizhou provincial government further develop the tourism industry to be one of the pillar industries of Guizhou Province.
2008-08-05 10:35:25
Hong Kong Now TV:
Given the fact that some elements of Tibet and Xinjiang seeking the so called independence of those two autonomous regions have issued warning of terrorist attacks, are you going to place any entry restrictions on the entry of some Tibetan or Xinjiang people to Beijing to ensure a safe Olympic Games? Just now in your opening remarks you mentioned some 400,000 to 450,000 visitors are expected to visit Beijing, how many of them will be foreigners according to your estimate? Since you have tightened visa to foreign visits and intensified security measures, will these measures affect the tourism industry in Beijing and in China during the Olympic Games?
2008-08-05 10:37:27
Du Jiang:
I think your questions can actually be divided into two parts, one on security and one on the industry in Beijing, and I will refer the first to Mr. Liu Xiaojun, deputy director-general of NTA's Coordination Department; and the second part to Madame Xiong Yumei, director-general of the Beijing Tourism Administration.
2008-08-05 10:39:44
Liu Xiaojun:
Indeed we have adopted some necessary preventative measures in accordance with the requirements of BOCOG to stall a few terrorists at home and abroad to ensure a safe and sound Olympic games. Yet we have not adopted special security measures that have gone beyond normal international practices. We are prepared to provide the best possible services to foreign and domestic visitors in keeping with the common international practices.
2008-08-05 10:40:31
Xiong Yumei :
The figures of the 400,000 to 450,000 visitors during the Beijing Olympic Games actually refer to the inbound arrivals excluding domestic visitors who may visit Beijing during the Games. Under the guidance of NTA, the Beijing tourism administration has arrived at this figure based on our studies of development statistics. We did these studies for the purpose of researching accommodation resources in Beijing. We took into consideration the ticket sales plan abroad, the number of tickets held by each person and the number of days the inbound arrivals or visitors may spend in Beijing, and our conclusion is that we have enough accommodation facilities and capacity during the Olympic Games. We are seeing the steady arrival of visitors who are coming for the Olympic Games and will release the actual number of visitors after the Olympic Games.
2008-08-05 10:42:04
Sichuan News Website :
I have three questions to ask. First question, I would like to know whether the scenic spots of Sichuan Province are on the routes. My second question is we know Sichuan has recently been hit by a devastating earthquake. Is your administration going to place any limits on the visits to Sichuan Province particularly the visits to the quake area. My third question is we know that 14 prefectures have opened the tourism market and the tourism markets in other places have been partly reopened. And also on August 6th the world famous tourism places Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong will be reopened. I would like to know if your administration is going to organize the Olympic visitors to Sichuan during the Games. I hope by reopening we can show to the whole world that Sichuan has emerged to become even more beautiful after the earthquake disaster.
2008-08-05 10:44:58
Du Jiang :
I want to mention Sichuan of course will be on the list, as the base for the giant panda research centre and many other famous attractions. Secondly on the day of the Wenchuan earthquake we did issue a notice to the domestic and foreign visitors they should exercise caution and not to visit the scenic spots in Sichuan, which is to ensure the safety of visitors.
After the earthquake we carried out appraisal of the damage situation on the ground and adopted measures to reconstruct the tourism market. Thanks to these efforts, thirteen areas have been reopened to the visitor since June 15 and other attractions including Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong will also be reopened to public visitors from tomorrow. Judging the situation of the tourism market there, which was re-opened about one month ago, I think things have been going fairly well -- actually much better than we have expected. And the four batches of tourist agents and journalists from Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan have already been to Sichuan to learn about the local situation.
2008-08-05 10:46:15
Du Jiang:
The single number of visitors at Mount Emei has skyrocketed from the smallest number of 25 persons per day to 8,000 persons per day. The numbers of visitors to such tourist attractions as the hometown of Mr. Deng Xiaoping and the Bamboo Forest have already exceeded the numbers of visitors in the corresponding periods of previous years. Not long ago in Beijing the Sichuan provincial tourism administration organized a Sichuan tourism promotion event called "Sichuan, as beautiful as ever." I personally attended the event and it was designed to promote one purpose -- to extend a warm welcome to all the visitors at home and abroad.
2008-08-05 10:47:57
Du Jiang :
My administration, the NTA has adopted measures and we continue to adopt more measures to help Sichuan Province rebuild the tourism infrastructure and the market to further develop tourism there. Here I would just like to give two concrete examples. The first is the NTA has adopted relative measures together with the Sichuan Province to formulate a plan of the reconstruction of the tourism industry after the massive earthquake; the second example I would like to give is that in October the NTA will organize an international tourism research forum together with the World Tourism Organization of the UN and the Sichuan government to regain the confidence of the international community in Sichuan province. At the same time we will also organize the media to make visits to learn about the latest developments of tourism there.
2008-08-05 10:49:21
Alfa TV of Russia:
I have a question about tourism of the boundary area of the two countries for Mr. Du. In 2005 the relevant department of the Chinese government have formulated new measures which forbids the handling of the visa documents for traveling overseas in the places that are different from the permanent place of residence of the applicant and I believe this process has significantly affected the practice of gambling in the tourism area but has also affected the amount of tourism in the boundary area. And considering the specific application I want to know if there was any consideration to change the policy of processing documents for traveling overseas?
2008-08-05 10:53:22
Du Jiang:
First of all I agree with you that the tourism in the boundary area has played an important role in boosting the economic and social development of such areas. And I would also like to say that the NTC is already making relevant studies and consultations with the relevant departments including the tourism administration and other departments to explore the measures and ways to reduce the problems you just mentioned. I hope that through these efforts we will see the prosperity and further developments in the tourism in the border areas in the future.
2008-08-05 10:53:53
Zheng Baolei:
It is time to finish the conference. Thanks for coming.
2008-08-05 10:55:01

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