Packages cater to TCM and culture

The Beijing Commission of Tourism Development plans to further develop high-end tourism packages related to traditional Chinese medicine, sports events, festivals, cultural performances and museums.

"High-end tourism in Beijing will be more colorful, and the customized tourism market has huge potential. Beijing has rich cultural tourism resources, and we should promote it well," says Wang Yue, deputy director of the commission, at the 2014 Winter Promotion of the Beijing High-end Tourism and Meetings Industry Alliance on Thursday at the China National Convention Center.

Beijing hosts more than 300 sports events of different sizes such as league matches and individual events. Some, like the Beijing Marathon, attract global attention.

The 2014 China Tennis Open attracted 475 reporters from 137 media outlets from home and abroad, and an audience of about 223,000.

"Most audience were for the high-level competitive games, to cheer on their favorite players and soak up the contest's atmosphere," says Wu Peihua, president of China Open Tennis Sports Events Promotion Co Ltd, at the conference.

Foreign audiences were mostly expatriates living in Beijing, and many were from the United States. Many of the Chinese audience members who were not local came from the areas surrounding Beijing such as Tianjin, and Shandong, Hebei and Liaoning provinces. Only 1 percent comprised overseas visitors who visited Beijing just to attend the tournament.

She said it's essential to design different tour products to cater to different audiences. Those who come especially for the matches can book independent or semi-independent tours via online travel agencies. Others can join a package tour that includes sightseeing and the tournament.

During the China Open Tennis, spending by audience members not from Beijing was 241 million yuan ($39.2 million), 71.8 percent of which was direct consumption such as ticket fees. Indirect consumption referred to accommodation and food and sightseeing.

"Tourism agencies can recommend excellent sport events to tourists in case they want to have fun at night. We're confident we can transform some potential tourism consumption into sport event consumption, so more people will visit Beijing for contests," Wu said.

She said sport event tourism and traditional tourism should share resources to draw more potential customers, such as having a package of tickets for different scenic spots.

The company has cooperated with Beijing Design Week, lotteries and clubs, so audience can enjoy colorful activities when they watch games.

They have cooperated with tourism agencies to include the event in local tour itineraries, and worked with hotels close to the tennis courts to offer discounts. They're planning to cooperate with more tourism agencies next year.

"It's essential to have sport event tourism forums, to exchange views about how to host international sport events in accordance with each city's characteristics, and combine sport events with urban tourism industry," Wu said.