The tourism ministers of China, South Korea and Japan yesterday
signed the Qingdao Declaration on exchange, cooperation and the
common development of the tourism industry.
The declaration was the fruit of the second annual three-day
meeting on tourism, which had the theme of "friendship,
cooperation, harmony and win-win." The meeting ends today.
Under the declaration, a mechanism will be introduced to allow
non-governmental tour agencies to meet, exchange ideas and
implement their governments' decisions.
Cooperation on tourism in the region was formerly limited to
talks between governments, and there was no platform for tour
companies to have their say, a source said.
The ministers also agreed to develop tour packages that would
encompass leading attractions in the three nations. They also
discussed the introduction of a system that would allow tourists to
make a single payment to cover their travel and accommodation fees
across the three countries.
At the inaugural ministers' meeting in Japan last year, it was
agreed to try and boost tourist traffic within the three countries
from 12 million in 2005 to 17 million by 2010.
Steady progress has been made, with the figure last year
reaching 13.8 million, up 11 percent on 2005. Statistics show that
the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan and South Korea has
growing rapidly in recent years.
"The number of Chinese visiting Japan is expected to exceed one
million this year," Takashi Ota, president of Japan's Kinki Nippon
Tourist Co Ltd, said.
Kim Jong-min, South Korea's minister of culture and tourism,
said the number of Chinese tourists to South Korea had been
increasing by 20 percent year on year.
(China Daily June 27, 2007)
