Support for events under the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year

In July 2016 the President of the European Commission (EC), Jean-Claude Juncker, and the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, decided that 2018 would be the EU-China Tourism Year (ECTY).

The aim was to increase visitor to both locations, boost tourism investment and stimulate people-to-people interactions.

To support the events the EC put out a call for submissions which were assessed in terms of its relevance with ECTY objectives (1/3), its clarity and quality (1/3), and its European dimension as well as expected impact (1/3). The events selected were:

  • European Federation of Youth Hostels Association (EUFED) – Workshop stimulating people to people dialogue and mutual understanding on youth tourism through youth hostelling movement
  • Eurogites – 6th European Congress on Rural Tourism featuring debates on EU-China tourism relevant aspects
  • Faenza Municipality – Participation in the China Jingdezhen International Ceramics Fair, featuring the European Route of Ceramics
  • ESPA – European Spas in China, Business to Business Seminar on “Why should Chinese travellers go to European Spas” in the context of the Chengdu International Tourism Fair
  • Sorbonne University – High level academic conference on “EU-China Tourism, Challenges and opportunities for Chinese tourism in European Heritage Cities”, organised with the Observatory of Contemporary China at the Cité de l’Architecture, the Bologna University (Italy) and the University of Leuven (Belgium)