In one of the last actions before the official kick-off of the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year, a conference and B2B matchmaking event are taking place in London on 2-3 November.

The World Bridge Tourism conference was brought together by the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute and will engage with two headline discussions: new service trends for the changing demands of travellers to Europe and innovation and cooperation for China-Europe tourism.

Conference speakers include:

• Antonio Cenini, Task Force for the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year, European Commission
• Concetta Caravello, Chief External Relations, Welcome Chinese
• Tom Jenkins, CEO, ETOA – European tourism association
• Mikko Turtiainen, Vice President Global Sales, Finnair
• Tony Ong, Vice President and General Manager of Overseas Business Department, Hua Yuan International Travel Co. Ltd.
• Laurens van den Oever, CMO, ForwardKeys
• Di (Gordon) Shen, Account Manager, Qyer
• Jean-Marie Wodon, CEO, Zapptax
• Philip Dodd, CEO, Made in China
• Charles Bonaparte, Chairman, European Federation of Napoleonic Cities
• Zhenye (Luis) Lu, CEO, Go with Tommy

Amongst the anticipated five hundred conference delegates, one hundred represent Chinese tour operators who have been in Europe for the week hosted by national tourist boards on a series of familiarisation trips. Support from Welcome Chinese, Kairos and Finnair have also been indispensable in bringing this project to fruition.

Following the conference, a China market B2B matchmaking is currently taking place at the Intercontinental London the O2 on Friday 3 November, alongside ETOA’s Global European Marketplace. The World Bridge Tourism workshop will match one hundred Chinese tour operators with European tourism suppliers.

ETOA CEO, Tom Jenkins said: ‘China is an international tourism source market different from any other, both in terms of potential, structure and interest. The World Bridge Tourism project, aimed at supporting European SMEs in learning more about the Chinese market, also provides real business opportunities to all involved.’

The EU-funded project, World Bridge Tourism, lays the ground for a programme of B2B actions for the tourism industry during 2018; Partnerships in European Tourism, to be delivered by a consortium formed of ETOA – European tourism association, the European Travel Commission and ECTAA.