During his keynote at the recent ITB China conference in Shanghai, Eduardo Santander, Executive Director and CEO of the European Travel Commission (ETC), acknowledged the ongoing challenges Europe is facing in regards to attracting Chinese tourists. According to Santander, connectivity is one issue, with a lack of flights from China to smaller European destinations, as well as a general lack of flights from second-tier and even third-tier cities in China to Europe. This is why the EU -China Tourism Year (ECTY) is a major opportunity for growth in Europe. This initiative by the European Commission working closely with the European Travel Commission will improve travel and tourist experiences, promote lesser-known destinations, provide opportunities to increase economic cooperation and create an incentive to make quick progress on EU-China visa facilitation and air connectivity. The ECTY website is designed as a toolkit to provide knowledge and share information; it is specifically designed to help EU tourism businesses, authorities and all other stakeholders establish successful commercial and cultural exchanges with diverse partners in China.