THE German Convention Bureau (GCB) will increase its presence in China with the opening of a representative office in Beijing in 2015, marking the organisation’s second external branch office after New York.
With a trading volume of over 140 billion euros (US$174.4 billion) in 2013, Germany is by far China’s biggest trading partner in Europe, and China, likewise, is Germany’s most important trading partner in Asia.
The GBTA has also predicted that the amount of business trips to Germany from China will increase beyond the current 964,000, which already accounts for 40 per cent of the total number of journeys from Germany to China. Research indicated that China might soon overtake the US as the largest nation of business travellers.
The new Beijing office will hence build on the emerging business and tourism links between the two countries, said Petra Hedorfer, chair of the GCB’s board of directors and CEO of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB).
Said Hedorfer: “Following the launch of our activity around the theme ‘Germany as a business travel destination’, developing the GCB’s presence in another key market is the next important step. The new office will enable Germany to continue to benefit from the rapid developments in China.”
Matthias Schultze, managing director of the GCB, said: “Having our own representative office in China provides clear advantages for members and partners of the GCB: proximity to the market will enable more intensive marketing work with a large number of new activities in which members can participate.”
The GCB will continue working with the GNTB to roll out further marketing activities in China, including online training (http://germany-meetingexperts.com) about Germany as a destination for meetings and conventions – approximately 600 Chinese event planners have taken part in this since the beginning of September 2014.
