Canton Fair drives inbound tourism boom, strong demand for high-end accommodation

China News Service, Guangzhou, October 20 (Reporter Cheng Jingwei) Statistics from a large-scale life service e-commerce platform show that the 140th Canton Fair has a significant driving effect. From October 15 to November 4, the platform’s bookings for Guangzhou’s cultural and tourism products increased by nearly 10% year-on-year. Among them, bookings for five-star/luxury hotels increased by 34% year-on-year. Demand for high-end accommodation is strong; the search volume for "hotels near the Canton Fair" increased by 134% year-on-year.

Statistics released by the online travel platform show that the Canton Fair in spring and autumn is the highest peak of foreign guests entering Guangzhou throughout the year, and the effect of the fair period is significant. During the two Canton Fairs this year, the platform’s Russian customers grew rapidly and became a new growth engine; the United States and Singapore are still the two fastest-growing customer sources.

A group of Canton Fair entrepreneurs from Chile recently came to Baiyun District, Guangzhou to listen to the explanation of China's cultural tourism destinations and the promotion of "China Travel" inbound tourism routes. The group is composed of 12 Chilean entrepreneurs. They are all visiting China for the first time and participating in the Canton Fair for the first time. They took the opportunity of the grand event to carry out cultural and tourism exchanges and inspections.

Many entrepreneurs from Chile visited Guangzhou Beijing Road Pedestrian Street.

Enzo Avello, general manager of a travel agency from Chile, said that the Canton Fair is an important starting point for Latin American businessmen to get to know China. Through market observation, he found that many businessmen who planned to go to China to participate in the Canton Fair also wanted to visit China in addition to their business itinerary. Based on this, tour operators in Chile began to look for cooperation with local tour operators with mature services and professional qualifications in Guangzhou, trying to package the demand for "Canton Fair Exhibition + China Tourism" into special tourism products and recruit tourists in Chile.

Many Chilean entrepreneurs said that through route promotion and on-site visits, they felt China's profound history and culture, rich and diverse nature and urban scenery, and also experienced China's mature and complete supporting services for inbound tourism.

Wu Jianfa, chief operating officer of Lingnan Holdings and president of Guangzhou Travel, said that on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Canton Fair, "China's No. 1 Exhibition" continues to expand the value boundary and is becoming a new window for global merchants to unlock "China Travel". "Exhibition + city tour" will become the mainstream option for more international merchants to come to China.

The 140th Canton Fair will be held in Guangzhou in three phases from October 15th to November 4th. Taking advantage of the Canton Fair's exhibition change period and post-exhibition leisure time, Guangzhou Travel Guide has targeted the promotion of a number of high-quality inbound travel routes.