Northstar

TRAVEL WEEKLY ASIA I T B A S I A S H O W D A I L I E S www.travelweekly-asia.com 20 18 OC TOBER 2018 Since the 2008 Summer Olympic Games 10 years ago, China has risen to become the world's fourth most popular destination and has laid the groundwork to rise to No. 1, relying on much more than a clever "Visit China" promotional campaign. A report by Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration states that "China has embarked on the largest programme of new hotel construction the world has ever seen". It went on to note that every day for the next 23 years, three new hotels will open somewhere in the country. In the past decade, China has also built the world's biggest high-speed train system and so many modern airports that some stand nearly idle waiting for TRANSFORMING TOURISM the anticipated next wave of tourism. No detail is too small. President Xi has ordered a revolution in toilets to install clean, comfortable, Western- style restrooms around the country. Xi told China's official Xinhua news agency, "The toilet issue is no small thing. It's an important aspect of building civilised cities and countryside." On the international level, the Chinese government has created alternative global institutions that will help determine how and where overseas tourism grows. For its massive Belt and Road Initiative, begun in 2013, China will spend nearly US$1 trillion dollars on infrastructure projects across Asia and parts of Africa, connecting countries By Elizabeth Becker China's tourism industry gears up for more changes. PHOT0 CREDIT: GETTYIMAGES Making an impact around the world: Chinese tourists at London's Tower Bridge initiative, the China-based WTA was founded by the Chinese vice minister for tourism and is headed by one of China's leading tourism professionals. In that sense, the WTA is non-governmental in name only. However, it is international, with a mixture of government and private industry members. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, director of Cotri and a leading expert in the field, said the Chinese are already reshaping tourism, in part because they have more money than time. "They will push Western visitors out of more destinations like Phuket, Thailand," Arlt said. "They will insist on their style of tourism — payment by smartphone, etc. They also are reshaping the world of tourism with a strong tendency away from 'holiday' in terms of relaxation and doing nothing, preferably on a beach, and toward more active travelling for learning, experience and entertainment." But China's reshaping of tourism itself leaves a deeper imprint. Cambodia is currently the purest expression of this. Tourism was essential to Cambodia's recovery from war and genocide. Now, the government wants tourism to propel Cambodians into the ranks of the middle class. To that end, the government of Hun Sen bought into China's Belt and Road initiative as a way to increase tourism, adding to the country's existing US$3 billion debt to China with several billion dollars more in loans for new roads, rail lines and infrastructure. Hun Sen opened the languid beach town of Sihanoukville to massive Chinese investment. In two years, the Chinese have transformed the port into an unlikely Las Vegas on the Gulf of Thailand — unlikely because it is illegal for Cambodians to gamble. Thirty casinos have opened, with 70 more under construction, making it the fastest-growing gaming district in the world, according to a Bloomberg report. "Made in China," he predicted, "will dominate the way tourism is organised in the coming years." "China has also built the world's biggest high- speed train system and many modern airports " through railroads, ports, highways and airports that will significantly affect tourism growth. The coup de grace came last autumn when China unveiled its own international tourism organisation, the World Travel Alliance (WTA). Created to tie into those massive projects of the Belt and Road PHOT0 CREDIT: TENGLONG GUO/GETTYIMAGES

• Cover