Malta given "approved destination status" for Chinese tourists

Malta has become the first European country to sign a protocol with the People's Republic of China, giving it "approved destination status", the Director of the Tourism Research Centre of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Prof. Zhang Guangrui said yesterday.

This means that Malta will be among the first European countries to receive Chinese tourists in the near future, paving the way to making China among the most important tourist markets for Malta outside Europe.

Prof. Zhang spoke about the potential of Chinese tourism to Malta during a seminar organised by the Malta Tourism Authority at the Westin Dragonara Hotel.

Only 21 countries world-wide enjoy "approved destination status" by China.

Prof. Zhang gave an overview of the culture, lifestyles, geography, religions, population and tourism of China, as well as some hints which would be useful to those countries which host Chinese visitors.

Prof. Zhang said that outbound tourism from China was increasing steadily every year. In the year 2000, around 12 million Chinese people travelled abroad.

Malta Tourism Authority chairman John Grech said that the MTA had recently opened a representative office in Beijing.

Dr Grech said he believed that the People's Republic of China could potentially become Malta's most important non-European tourism source market, surpassing even the US, which provides around 20,000 visitors per year and Japan with around 10,000 visitors per year.

MTA's marketing and promotion director Paul Galea explained that the MTA seminar was aimed at informing members of the Maltese trade about the potential of the