On March 18, a team of travel and tourism professionals dispatched by the Barcelona Tourism Board to Beijing submitted its report to Yu Changjiang, director of the Beijing Tourism Administration. The 35-page report was the culmination of four months of research and discussion.
The experts from Barcelona identified public transportation as the most urgent issue to be addressed. In addition to the subway and light rail systems, they suggested, improvements should be made to the public bus system. They pointed out that convenient bus transportation is attractive to individual travelers.
The report also suggested that more attention should be given to public lavatories. Sanitation alone is not enough: facilities should also be visually appealing and conveniently designed, including features geared toward children and the disabled.
The Spanish team pointed out that Beijing is one of most attractive destinations in the world not only for the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, but also for its unique hutongs (narrow residential lanes), small historical sites, traditional stores and exotic food. The report offered advice on developing tours with folk features that would highlight more clearly the capital city's distinctive features.
The Beijing Tourism Administration thinks highly of the suggestions offered by the team.
The research report is just one of a series of cooperative programs, backed by the Spanish government, designed to aid China in developing its tourism industry.
Spain is a popular destination for travelers and Barcelona successfully hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Officials from the Beijing Tourism Administration are scheduled to be dispatched to work in Barcelona, according to Yu Changjiang, while the Barcelona Tourism Board will reciprocate by sending staff to work temporarily in Beijing.
On February 26, a check in the amount of 112,500 Euros was delivered to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) by the ambassador of Spain on behalf of his government. The funds will be used to train Chinese tourism officials and staff in Spain. The programs will focus on seashore tourism, rural tourism and product promotion.
In October last year, at the invitation of the International Cooperation Department of the Spanish government, China sent a team to study tourism infrastructure in Spain for 15 days.
CNTA Vice Director Zhang Xiqin says that Spain's rich experience as a well-developed tourism destination could be very helpful to China. Spain's contributions are greatly appreciated and future cooperation between the two nations is bound to be fruitful, said Zhang.
(China.org.cn by Wang Zhiyong, March 28, 2004)
