Communication: Latin American countries using the Service Trade Fair to form a group for "marketing" to attract Chinese tourists

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 5th - Latin American countries use the Service Trade Fair to form groups for "marketing" to attract Chinese tourists

Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Biao

"I just retired and want to travel to Latin America. Let's take a look and understand the situation here first." At the 2023 China International Trade in Services Fair, Ms. Guo from Beijing told Xinhua News Agency that one of her purposes for coming to the Fair is to visit the exhibition halls of Latin American countries.

The 2023 Service Trade Fair will be held in Beijing from September 2nd to 6th, and multiple Latin American countries will come to set up exhibitions to promote Latin American characteristic tourism resources to Chinese tourists.

At the Uruguayan booth, a blue and white football model with elements of the Uruguayan flag, an introduction manual to the football museum, and the iconic figures of the country's famous football stars Suarez and Cavani all showcase the country's proud football culture, attracting the attention of passersby.

"Uruguay is a pearl that urgently needs to be discovered by Chinese tourists," Martin Orlando, Minister Counselor of the Uruguayan Embassy in China, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that the Trade in Services Fair is a good opportunity to increase Uruguay's visibility, and Uruguay has participated in this grand event for many consecutive years.

Orlando said, "We are fully prepared to welcome Chinese tourists and believe that more and more Chinese tourists will enter Latin America."

At present, China has resumed national travel agencies and online tourism enterprises to operate group tours and "flight+hotel" services for Chinese citizens traveling to multiple Latin American countries such as Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay, Brazil, and Mexico.

Rodrigo Gomez, head of the Economic and Commercial Section of the Argentine Embassy in China, said that Argentina was one of the first destinations for China to resume outbound tourism after the COVID-19 epidemic, which reflected the deepening friendship and the willingness to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

Gomez said, "Argentina has always hoped to attract more Chinese tourists and achieve diversified tourist sources. We are actively promoting cooperation with the Chinese tourism industry, such as opening direct flights, accelerating and simplifying entry procedures, and actively exploring the use of Chinese electronic payment methods in Argentina to facilitate the travel of Chinese tourists."

Elizabeth, the Tourism Counselor of the Cuban Embassy in China, stated that the first Chinese tour group to arrive in Cuba after the pandemic last month visited multiple vacation destinations such as Havana, Balladro, and Santa Maria Island, leaving a deep impression on Cuba's sunny beaches and historical buildings.

Elizabeth said, "At the Fair for Trade in Services, many people came to inquire about visa and route information for traveling to Cuba, with young people being the majority. Cuba has prepared travel brochures with detailed information and rich scenery, promoting natural, cultural, and medical tourism resources, and is also committed to developing tourism products that cater to the preferences of young Chinese people."

Tang Jie, the head of the Latin American Research Department at the Institute of America and Oceania of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, stated that the tourism industry's ability to quickly generate revenue is an important lever for Latin America to achieve post pandemic economic recovery. China's huge customer market has attracted Latin American countries to participate in the Service Trade Fair in groups, using this platform to more directly meet market demand and increase opportunities to provide outbound tourism services.

Tang Jie said that with the increasing willingness of Chinese tourists to travel to non-traditional tourist countries and the increasingly close economic and trade ties between China and Latin America, China's tourism business in Latin America has great potential for growth and development.

According to data from Ctrip Travel, the outbound tourism business to Latin America is currently recovering. Since the beginning of this year, the platform has seen a high volume of orders for tourist destinations such as Mexico, Cuba, Uruguay, and Brazil. As of August 31st, orders for summer Latin American tours this year have increased by 3.6 times year-on-year.

The relevant person in charge of China Tourism Group Travel Service Co., Ltd. stated at the Service Trade Fair that the popularity of polar tourism products, which were already very popular before the epidemic, continues to rise. With the further opening of the market, the company has successively launched tourism products from Latin American countries, and has also launched hiking route products specifically targeting niche destinations in Latin America.

Tang Jie stated that looking forward to the future, with the accelerated recovery of international flights, the acceleration of product research and development and layout by tourism enterprises, and the catalysis of holidays such as China's National Day, Mid Autumn Festival, and Spring Festival, the demand for outbound tourism in Latin America is expected to further increase, adding new momentum to the development of service trade between China and Latin America, and driving the optimization and upgrading of the structure of service trade between China and Latin America.