Closer ties between Croatia and China are on the cards.
The Chinese Southeast European Business Association (CSEBA), in cooperation with the premium event company Meritum komunikacije, the Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce (SRCIC), the City of Dubrovnik, the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian National Tourist Board, and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro, is organising the Silk Road Tourism Conference on April 24-26 at Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel.
The Silk Road Tourism Conference is becoming the largest and most important business event that brings together top Chinese and regional businessmen in order to strengthen cooperation in tourism and other related industries.
The importance and seriousness of this event confirms the fact that besides business representatives from Croatia and the region, this conference will be attended by top Chinese tour operators, International Chamber of Commerce of China which networks hundreds of chambers of commerce on the Silk Road, Chinese investors, and other stakeholders that follow tourism industry.
A clear indication of the interest of the Chinese business community in this region, among others, will be the attendance of Wang Shuai, founder and CEO of iYat, China’s largest nautical company that promotes high class tourist packages for the Chinese yachtsmen in the world with its 10.000 yachts. More precisely, Shuai is coming to Croatia to expand cooperation with local businessmen after he had seen nautical potential of our coast during his visit last year. Even though regional countries have a great interest in this gathering, it was Croatia who strategically ”jumped” due to its geographical position and the power it has in the tourism sector.
Besides respected guests, Chinese and regional businessmen, we’ll have the highest representatives of the Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce (SRCIC), an organization that connects hundreds of chambers of commerce on the Silk Road and whose CSEBA is a full member.
This organisation is a business club which strengthens the exchange between Western countries and China with its targeted activities and it affects on the speeding up of business processes in order to strengthen investment, expand business and stimulate the arrival of Chinese tourists on the Adriatic. – says Mario Rendulić, the president of CSEBA, that showed with the investment of 30 million in Krapinske Toplice which options are ”opened” by strengthening the cooperation with Chinese businessmen.
CSEBA points out that the reason why they decided to organise such a high-profile business meeting was the success of the 1th Silk Road Tourism Workshop held in early February in Krapinske Toplice. They were also encouraged by the expected strong investment impulse and the fact that Chinese company China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has won the bid for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge.
Special emphasis of the three-day conference will be on nautical, health and cultural tourism topics. SRCIC will present their plans for Croatia and the region, while the Silk Road Fund, which will invest in several countries in our region, will as well present their work.
Tourism potentials and characteristics of Croatia are still relatively unknown in China. The Croatian tourism sector should get well prepared for the reception of their Chinese guests who differ in cultural specifics and the way they’re using Chinese communication platforms that we should become familiar with. Tourist promotion in PR China requires great organisational and cost-effective efforts, that’s why one of the goals of this gathering is to bring as many relevant Chinese partners as possible to Croatia and to the region. It is important to note that a pre-contract about the recording of the first Chinese movie in Croatia will be signed during the conference.
The program of the Silk Road Tourism Conference can be accessed by clicking here.
