China's corporate travel market set to soar by 15-20pc â NBTA
- MICEBTN archive stories issue 28
- Wednesday, 27 June 2007
THE US$6-8 billion corporate travel market in China is expected to grow by 15-20 per cent over the next three years according to National Business Travel Association (NBTA) chief Suzanne Fletcher.
The NBTA is the world’s largest and oldest association promoting the corporate travel sector. NBTA has more than 2700 members in 30 countries including The Australasia Business Travel Association (ABTA), which joined recently.
Fletcher, speaking at the inaugural IT &CM China in Shanghai, said Chinese companies were beginning to stage multi-national operations at the same level as the US and Europe, growth that would be aided by improvements in visa system. “One of the key issues impacting continued growth is the visa application system which was slow and cumbersome and needs to be speeded up or phased out completely and replaced with a visa on arrival system,” said Fletcher. She said the NBTA was currently working with the various government agencies and departments to find a solution that maintained security but provided a much faster process.
“China has made tremendous progress in the last few years in processing the high numbers of corporate and leisure visitors but it needs to do more. It involves greater use of technology and better use of electronic systems,” said Fletcher. “We are working on it and it should not be too long before changes can be made.”
It was the second visit to Shanghai for Fletcher and she said she was impressed at the development that had taken place between her visits. “The transport infrastructure has improved enormously, particularly access to the airports and major attractions,” said Fletcher. “Shanghai is as busy as ever but it was easier to get around and this is good news for the corporate traveller and MICE sector.”
