On 19th May 2025, the Association of National and Regional Tourism Representative Offices (ANTOR) 2025 Trade Meeting was successfully held at the Czech Embassy in London. As 19th May is the 15th China Tourism Day, China National Tourist Office London (CNTO London) organised a special promotional campaign under the theme of ‘‘Land of Splendor, Journey of Wonder’ to systematically introduce the historical origin and practical significance of the China Tourism Day to the UK travel trade and media, and showcased the new image and achievements of China’s tourism development.

The event attracted representatives from eight countries and regions including China, Czech Republic, South Korea, Bahamas, Samoa, Catalonia, Miami, Gibraltar and other tourism organisations in the UK, as well as more than a hundred mainstream travel agents and media representatives in the UK. The warm atmosphere and frequent interactions at the site fully reflected the positive expectations of all parties to promote international tourism cooperation.

During the event, Pan Hang, Assistant Director of the China National Tourist Office London introduced in his speech that ‘China Tourism Day’ was established in 2011, which originated from Xu Xiake, a geographer of the Ming Dynasty, who set off on his first trip on 19^th May 1613 to investigate the natural geography and record the humanistic features. The book, Xu Xiake’s Travels, which was written later, has become an outstanding representative of China’s traditional geography and travel culture, with more than 100,000 words profoundly depicting the mountains and rivers of the Chinese land. ‘The spirit of ‘reading thousands of books and travelling thousands of miles’ advocated by China Tourism Day has now taken on new connotations in the new pattern of integrated development of culture and tourism, and has become an important carrier for promoting cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world.

In order to facilitate foreign tourists to experience the beauty of China, China has continuously optimised its entry policies, launching initiatives such as 240-hour visa-free transit, visa-free entry to specific regions, and ‘buy-and-return’ departure tax rebates, which have significantly improved the level of entry and exit facilitation and unleashed the international attractiveness of China’s tourism.

During the promotion breakout session, CNTO London played the latest promotional film ‘China Travel – Hello China’, which comprehensively introduces the visa policy optimisation, digital payment popularity, smart travel services, etc., and vividly demonstrated China’s advantages in the integration of traditional culture, modern cities, green ecology and other diversified tourism resources, which gained the attention of the attending guests and positive feedback.

Debbie Mitchell, a representative from Travel Smarter, won a prize draw and was awarded a six-colour badge for the Chinese Zodiac in the Year of the Snake. She said the gift was very meaningful and would inspire her to travel to China to learn more about the Chinese culture and look forward to bringing more British tourists to China to experience the unique and fascinating country.

Headquartered in London, the Association of National Tourist Offices and Representatives (ANTOR) was established for nearly 70 years and now has nearly 60 member organisations covering destination marketing agencies in the UK from many countries/regions. As its annual flagship event, ANTOR’s Industry Meetup is dedicated to building an efficient cooperation platform between global destinations and local tourism practitioners in the UK, and to promoting the interoperability of resources and market matchmaking.

The China National Tourist Office London (CNTO London) will continue to play the role of a bridge, deepen communication and collaboration with the UK tourism industry, actively promote the quality and upgrading of bilateral tourism exchanges between China and the UK, and continue to inject new momentum into the promotion of humanistic mutual understanding and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.