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Air France connects two nations
By Lu Haoting (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-14 10:43

The World Tourism Organization (WTO) ranked China 18th among tourist destinations worldwide in 1980. China raced up the ranking to the fourth place in 2002. The country, originally expected to overtake France as the world's No 1 tourism destination in 2020, is now tipped to do so six years ahead of schedule, according to the tourism organization.

At the same time, China itself is becoming a major source of tourists in the world. With their incomes rising, more and more Chinese are traveling, both within the country and going abroad. The WTO figures indicate China has already overtaken Japan to become Asia's largest source of outbound travelers and could become the world's fourth largest source of outbound tourism by 2020.

"Chinese people like 'culture tourism' and they like to see historic landmarks of Europe. They also like shopping. France is a good combination of both," says Legre, adding the special attraction of France has made the country a preferred destination for Chinese traveling to Europe. That has helped the Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport become a transfer hub for Chinese traveling through Europe.

Currently two-thirds of Air France KLM's demand comes from Europe, with one-third from China.

"The growing demand from China helps us to pamper more our Chinese customers. Since we have more and more Chinese customers, we are able to convince our headquarters that we should work better on their expectations," Legre says.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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