New Leisure and Travel Practice for ACNielsen China

ACNielsen has announced the establishment of an Industry Practice Group (IPG) for Leisure and Travel research in China, led by Dr. Grace Pan. The firm says it will 'aggressively expand' its services for the country's travel and leisure sectors, with tracking and in-depth analysis.

Before joining ACNielsen, Dr. Pan worked for nine years on research into China outbound travel, including projects on the Sino-Australian travel trade and Chinese incentives to travel to Australia. She is Adjunct Professor at Griffith University (Australia) and is based in Shanghai. She comments: 'ACNielsen's history of leadership in market research and our unique insights have helped clients build competitive advantage in this market and there will be no exceptions for our new leisure and travel group.'

China currently receives more than 46.8 million international travellers per annum, according to figures from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and World Tourism Organisation (WTO) – this makes it the fourth biggest inbound tourist destination in the world. Its total revenue from tourism is projected to reach RMB1.27 trillion ($US 163bn) in the next four years, while outbound tourism grows 10% per annum to 50 million travellers.

'Travel and leisure operators need to get into the minds of these 1.3 billion Chinese consumers - especially the emerging middle class in major cities who are quickly adapting to a modern lifestyle and becoming more and more 'mobile'' says Rene Bos, Executive Director, ACNielsen China. China's rising 'middle class' has also spurred the growth of sports and entertainment industries, and luxury goods markets, and Bos notes that demand for research in all three sectors has been growing too.

The company is online at www.acnielsen.com.cn .

UK-based agency B2B International has also opened a Chinese office this week – in line with plans announced in September (DRNO www.mrweb.com/drno/news5917.htm ).

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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