United Kingdom
United States
Asia Pacific
Agents offered Beijing incentive
Agents directing bumper business to Beijing will be rewarded with a holiday to the city and cash prizes under an initiative launched by Beijing’s tourist authorities. Agents that send more than 1,000 Brits to holiday in Beijing qualify for the incentive programme launched by Beijing Municipal Bureau of Tourism (BMBT). Those clocking up over 1,000 bookings in a year will be invited by BMBT on a five-day sightseeing tour of Beijing, with return flights, accommodation and transfers paid for. The top two agents selling the most tours to Beijing in a year will receive a cash reward of £6,500 as well as the holiday to the city. According to BMBT, this is the first of many initiatives being launched to boost visitor numbers to Beijing. The city’s tourism authorities are keen to boost awareness of the city and increase visitor numbers ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. Beijing is in the north of China and is well-placed for world-famous sites including the Great Wall of China and the Forbidden City. Beijing is currently visited by around 400,000 Britons each year, according to BMBT, while visits from the whole of China to the UK total around 100,000 per year. However, improved relations between China and the UK have come about following the approval by Chinese authorities of the UK as an official “approved destination”, making visas for travel between the countries easier to obtain, and an increase in Chinese holidaymakers to the UK is expected. Report by Ginny McGrath
Ginny McGrath
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