Business

Mapp And Delegation Meet With Air China Officials To Discuss Expansion Of Chinese Tourism To Territory

Government House announced today that Governor Kenneth Mapp and his delegation have completed two of their first meetings in China today. The trade mission has set out to seek viable opportunities to grow trade relations between the Virgin Islands and China, says the release. Today’s meetings included Air China, the opening meeting for the mission, followed by meetings with the United States Ambassador to China Max Baucus. The governor met with Air China officials to discuss opportunities that are available to expand Chinese tourism to the U.S. Virgin Islands through private partnerships and promotional programs with Chinese partners. According to a recent report from consultancies Fung Business Intelligence Centre and China Luxury Advisors, China’s outbound traveler numbers are still growing and are poised to double by 2020 to 234 million passengers, from more than 100 million in 2014. China produced 109 million outbound tourists in 2015 – with retail spending of US$229 billion dollar...