A report recently by economist Albert Keidel of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says China’s economy will overtake that of the United States by 2035 and be double its size by 2050.
In the report Mr Keidel said growth was being facilitated by domestic growth and not exports which meant that it would continue to experience single digit growth rates from now and for the forseeable future.
This latest speculation is clearly not unfounded. In late 2007 a speaker at an international business travel event predicted that within the next 10 years one third of the entire world’s air travel would emanate from China.
As one that moves with the times, the Pacific Asia Travel Association recently released a report on China, with the focus being on maximising its tourism potential, including MICE business.
Endorsed by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), and sponsored by Visa, Realising China’s Tourism Potential, Recommendations for Future Development is the first definitive international study that presents a roadmap for growth and management of the US$100bn industry.
It says that China is poised to become the world’s most popular tourist destination within a decade.
It recommends for the meetings sector that China consider establishing a national convention bureau, further develop purpose-built facilities, undertake a training strategy for those working in the sector, and increase regional cooperation. If and when this does happen, then watch out world!
It is little wonder that Australia’s leading business tourism offices are clambering over each other to get their foot in the door. Nevertheless, there are plenty of difficulties; communication barriers possibly being the biggest at this point in time.
But it’s not just China that is experiencing considerable growth. Many parts of Asia are on an upward spike, particularly in the business events realm, spurred on by competitive pricing, quality venues and facilities, and governments that have caught the business events bug and are recognising the value events can have to a city or destination.
The International Congress & Convention Association’s 2007 Statistics Report on the International Association Meetings Market clearly shows that Asia is having a global impact on the business of meetings.
Once more, Europe as a whole recorded another percentage point drop after a reduction in the number of association meetings being held there. On the flipside, the Asian MICE community’s market share grew one percentage point in 2007, giving the region a formidable 19 per cent global market share of association meetings business.
In terms of countries in Asia, Japan has leapt up the rankings from 12th position in 2006 to seventh in 2007, while Singapore remains third in the city rankings, just behind Berlin (2nd) and Vienna (1st).
Beijing is a newcomer to the top 10 city rankings, climbing from 13th place in 2006 to eighth position in 2007. Taipei is another strong performer, securing 18th position from position 40 in 2006.
At 35,000 feet and mach 0.82, we’re heading north somewhere over an outback sunset when my therapist gets her thumbs stuck into my shoulders – “Ayurvedic, aah… accupressure, oooh….toxin release, goood; …so this is how the Upper Class live”.
Elsewhere, others in the group on VS201, Virgin Atlantic’s A340-600 to Hong Kong, are at the bar sipping Manhattans or maybe Bellinis, at their suites having dinner for one or two, watching videos, reading, or tapping out that last minute report on the laptop. Some have already wined, dined, flicked the switch and flipped the leather seat, slipped on the black Branson PJs, tucked in the duvet, and are horizontal for the evening.
“Ayurvedic therapy leaves chamomile tea for dead…” and I drift off to be gently woken by soft blue lighting. Touchdown into Hong Kong is 10pm and HKIA is busy, not frantic as it might be by day, but quickly grasping the scale of this hub you realise you’re only one of 1900 flights a week from almost every compass point; already air passenger numbers are 10 per cent up on last year.
Virgin’s Lisa Dosanjh, who has given up her upper class seat for one of the PCOs, hands us over in very good shape to Jane Scribner, business tourism manager for Hong Kong Tourism Board, Sydney, and we’re met on arrival by HKTB guide Maria Chow (PC Tours) to smooth our way through this megacity.
In one of the world's most vertical cities, our downtown Hong Kong island base is a virtual low-rise at 25 storeys - the legendary Mandarin Oriental overlooking the harbour. It was closed for a massive refurbishment for over nine months and Peter Hession, ANZ regional sales manager for Mandarin is keen to show it off.
But after typical Mandarin Oriental efficiency we’re soon in high-tech harbour view rooms: integrated audio/video player with surround sound links into LCD HD TV, hotel-wide wireless broadband and a connectivity kit for laptop, video camera and mp3 players.
Next morning over breakfast, I wonder why the South China Morning Post wasn’t hanging from my doorknob. “Try the valet box,” says one of the PCOs revealing the secret hideaway near the door of every room into which items are delivered – from newspapers to cleaned shoes, no disturbance. Worked brilliantly for an overnight shoeshine.
The Mandarin Oriental’s hosted breakfast reveals one of the hotel’s legends – pastries. Obviously carbohydrate loading for the Tai Chi class to follow, someone suggests, so we have another.
After a HKTB briefing – the city boosted its hotel rooms by seven per cent over 2007 and now boasts 140 hotels with 51,582 rooms and expects to increase its business tourism share so is extending the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre by more than one third to 90,000 square metres of rentable space by 2009 – we set off for the long march in the designated “comfortable shoes”.
A short walk later, in the belly of this bustling skyscraper city of seven million, we enter an oasis of calm; a treat where tai chi master, William Ng explains that centuries-old graceful movements balance yin (negative) and yang (positive), exercising mind and soul as much as body. He quietly conducts group classes for up to 30 shadowed by towering glass and metal:
Continuing the aesthetic, a short walk through the gardens reveals one of the island’s oldest colonial buildings, Flagstaff House, former British garrison and now tea appreciation centre under the expert palate of Ip Wing-chi.
That’s not a dollhouse tea set he’s using. We soon discover white, green, oolong and genuine black tea – our black tea he calls red tea, referring to its liquid colour and Mr Ip gestures to cabinets filled with pancakes of post-fermented black tea, sporting $10,000 plus price tags. Serious business, tea sipping. Not surprisingly his small teapot made of rare clay must be properly warmed by pouring 95-100 degree C water inside, outside and over the lid and cups. It delivers a fine thimbleful of the ancient beverage. We’re even taught how to hold the tiny cup to avoid embarrassment – three fingers with the index finger to cover the mouth as you sip.
From the sublime to the ridiculous: we note the old method of ascending Victoria Peak involved two wiry lackeys and a resplendent rotund English gentlemen perched in a sedan chair, then, we remark with some irony, our modern ascension requires we hold on furiously to remain vertical as ever-steeper inclines inch our Peak Tram up to picture postcard heaven 552m above Victoria Harbour. The view: Kowloon looms in the distance, but the foreground is intersected by an 88-storey exclamation mark – the 420 metre IFC Two skyscraper appears to match the Peak for height.
Below our observation deck is one of many local shopping malls and mega restaurants including Café Deco, where we and almost 1190 others can feast Italian-style. We would later discover non-Chinese cuisine abounds in Hong Kong where you could live for 20 years and still not have tried all of the 8000 eateries.
Atop a harbourside 1920's art deco skyscraper sits China Club, evacuated by the Bank of China in 1991 in favour of IM Pei’s iconic steel and glass tower. Then flamboyant local businessman David Tang (of Shanghai Tang) established an exclusive old Shanghai-style private club and filled it with his modern art collection. Here the movers and shakers dine on dark wood with bright silk cushions or adjourn for cigars to a library filled only with books about China and a tatty old leather couch that was once Winston Churchill’s (pictured top). Through a low, narrow 15th floor doorway is an outdoor terrace that once had Hong Kong’s best penthouse view, but now makes an excellent pre-function space before retiring to Mao’s Long March Bar or any of the seven private dining rooms for up to 120.
With a few hours free, the PCOs opt for a therapy session…retail therapy that is, across the harbour at the Ladies’ Market, Kowloon, before an exquisite dinner in a private room at Mandarin Oriental Grill. Phew, and that was day one in Hong Kong!
But for three more days the PCOs laboured on: the wet market; Chinese cooking corporate team-building (fun); Aqua Luna junk on Victoria Harbour for the Symphony of Lights (impressive); dinner at the eclectic Water Margin Restaurant (excellent); the Journey of Enlightenment to Ngong Ping village and monastery (giant Buddha inspiring); Disneyland for Yum Cha (voted best) and The Lion King (must see); lunch and races from a private box at HKJC’s Sha-Tin racecourse, (site of the 2008 Olympic Equestrian events).
Graeme Kemlo travelled to Hong Kong courtesy of Virgin Atlantic and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
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