CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHINESE TOURISM IN EUROPEAN HERITAGE CITIES

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHINESE TOURISM IN EUROPEAN HERITAGE CITIES December 6 th, 2018 Amphithéâtre Liard, Sorbonne, Paris Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, France Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Italy KU Leuven University, Belgium Observatoire de la Chine Contemporaine, France Rationale and objectives European cities represent a major attraction for ever growing numbers of visitors. In terms of international tourist arrivals in Europe, while Europe measured approximately 3% average annual growth for the 2005-2014 period, the figure for Asia and the Pacific region in the same period was 6%, due not least to the tourism boom in China (EPRS 2015). The volume of Chinese outbound trips has grown by an average of 15.3% annually since 2010 and 27.2% annually since 2000 (European Travel Commission 2017). European historical urban centers, with their architectural and cultural heritage, major cultural events, urban sights, are experiencing in particular an impressive increase of their Chinese visitors.travel from China in Europe grew in the years 2003-2008 by 11.4% and in the years 2008-2013 by 17.6% (EPRS 2015). Europe received 11.5% of the total number of Chinese outbound trips (excluding the SARs) in 2016, the largest number after Asia (European Travel Commission 2017). Chinese tourism expenses (accommodation, shopping, entrance fees to monuments and sites) represent a major and much welcomed revenue for most urban destinations. This is not however exempt from problems. Most European cities were not prepared to host such important numbers of visitors; Monuments and sites do not always have the appropriate tools (guides; brochures, NTIC); Storytelling in most sites is Eurocentric and does not take into consideration the cultural background of the visitors; Urban tourism products are not sufficiently adapted to cater increasingly segmented Chinese markets; Heritage interpretation is poor ; Visit patterns do not allow real encounters with local inhabitants; Restauration and other offered services are not adapted to the Chinese visitors tastes; huge numbers are not appropriately managed. 1

This situation results in frustrations for local inhabitants, for tourism stakeholders and for Chinese visitors. Much more innovative approaches should be invented in order to improve the quality of the visits, to increase the positive impacts on local economies and to protect fragile sites. However, urban and heritage tourism represent not only a particularly important economic challenge but also a major field for collaboration for European and Chinese research and academic collaboration. The objective of the conference is to lay the ground for a long-term EU-China academic research and professional collaboration involving academics and researchers in relation with innovative SME businesses in fields of tourism, heritage and urban studies. 9:30 am Official Opening 10:00 am- 12:am Programme First Round Table: Understanding the Chinese visitor What are the new profiles of cultural tourists in Europe? How take into consideration an increasingly segmented Chinese market in terms of personalization, customization, adaptation? Moderator: Dr CHANG Xue Shu, KU Leuven University Ms ZHANG Yu, Consultant, journalist and cultural engineer: Chinese tourists, between myths and realities Ms Josefa CASADO, Maison de la Chine, France: Looking for heritage. Inbound tourism in heritage European cities Ms Eve ARAKELIAN, Vp Market Business Performance, ACCOR hotels: The strategy China 2020 Pr Dominique VANNESTE, KU Leuven: The Inter-Cultural experience of Chinese visitors in Brussels and Flemish art cities Pr WU Chengzhao, School of landscape, Tongji University: Economic Impacts of Chinese Cultural Heritage Tourism 12:00 am - 1:30 pm Free Lunch 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Second Round Table: Interpretation How should heritage cities, sites, monuments and museums speak to Chinese visitors? What are the most appropriate approaches in terms of tourism interpretation, TIC, storytelling? How communicate on European Heritage and historic urban landscape? Moderator: Pr Maria GRAVARI-BARBAS, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University Pr ZHANG Chaozhi, Sun Yat-sen University: Storytelling or scientific explanation? Chinese tourist preference for cultural heritage interpretation Pr ZOU Tongqian, Professor of Tourism, Beijing International Studies University Dr Françoise GED, Observatoire de la Chine Contemporaine, Cité de l Architecture et du Patrimoine: Learning from professional visits with Chinese urban planners, architects and mayors in cities and rural places in France Mr Roger BATAILLE, Vice-President of Petites Cités de Caractère, France (to be confirmed) 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Coffee / Tea break 2

3:30 pm - 5:00 pm Third Round Table: Innovation How to innovate in terms of accommodation, restoration or tourism services offered in European historical cities?how to maximize interaction between tourism and heritage SMEs and startups? MODERATOR: Pr Luca ZAN, University of Bologna Pr XU Hong, Nankai University, Director of College Council, College of Tourism and Service management and Dr ZHANG Rouran, assistant professor at Nankai University: A Study on Chinese Tourists' Response to European Tourism Service Innovation Pr Kaye CHON, Dean of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University: Innovative methods to develop sustainable Chinese tourism in Europe Dr Minja YANG, Raymond Lemaire International Centre For Conservation /KU Leuven (to be confirmed): New approaches for sustainable tourism development in European heritage cities 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm Closing session Organizers The conference is organized by three major European Universities [Bologna (Italy), KU Leuven (Belgium) and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France)] along with the Observatory of Contemporary China at the Cité de l Architecture, Paris. The three universities have all developed relations with major Chinese universities which are invited for the conference, such as Nankai, Sun Yat-sen, Tongji, Beijing International Business Studies University, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Scientific Committee The conference is organized under the scientific responsibility of Maria GRAVARI-BARBAS (EIREST, IREST, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University), Dominique VANNESTE (KU Leuven), Fiorella DALLARI (Bologna University) and Françoise GED (Observatory for Contemporary China, Cité de l Architecture, Paris). Organization Committee The organization committee is composed by Dr Yue LU and PhD Candidate TianTian YIN (IREST, EIREST, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University). Who should attend The conference targets different types of public: European and Chinese scholars specialized on tourism, heritage and urban studies; Local stakeholders working on these fields; Tourism, heritage and urban decision makers in Europe and China. Innovative businesses and start-ups working on heritage and tourism. The Grand Salon de la Sorbonne in which the conference will be organized has a capacity of 200 seats. The conference will be made available in streaming and will offer a wide visibility in terms of communication. The 4 organizing universities and centers in Europe and their Chinese partners can insure an additional coverage of approximately 5000 persons (students enrolled to related programs and scholars). 3

Location The conference will take place at the Amphitheater Louis Liard, one of the most prestigious amphitheaters of Sorbonne. Pr Kaye CHON BIOSKETCHES Professor Kaye Kye-Sung Chon is Dean of School and Chair Professor of Hotel and Tourism Management. A former hotel manager and tourism industry consultant, Professor Chon previously held academic positions at the University of Houston, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Virginia Tech in the United States. During his academic career, he received numerous visiting professorships, research fellowships, and Visiting Lectureships from universities around the world. Among many academic and scholarly contributions, he has authored or edited ten books and has published over 200 papers in academic and professional journals. Professor Chon twice received Teaching Excellence Award and four times received Research Excellence Award, including the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Award from International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (CHRIE) and the Martin Oppermann Memorial Award from International Society of Travel & Tourism Educators (ISTTE) for his contribution to tourism education. In 2003, he was recognized by his alma mater Georgia State University's Cecil B Day School of Hospitality Management as "Most Outstanding Alumni in 30 Years of History," and he was the first recipient of University of Delaware's Michael D. Olsen Research Award. In 2007, he received the Howard B. Meek Award from CHRIE for his lifetime contribution to education and scholarship in hospitality and tourism. He is honoured by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) with the prestigious UNWTO Ulysses Prize 2011. Françoise GED 4

Françoise Ged, architect, has launched research first about the urban fabric in Shanghai from 1842 to 1995 to finalize her Ph.D. degree at EHESS (Paris) in 1997, then about Chinese heritage policies for her H.D.R degree (Paris 7) through various Franco-Chinese cooperation case analyses during 2001. She is head of the Observatoire de l architecture de la Chine contemporaine at the Cité de l architecture & du patrimoine, major public cultural facilites in France. She is an associate researcher at the Centre Chine Corée Japon. She took part at the bilateral city professional training cooperation 150 Chinese architects, urban and landscape planners in France 1998-2005, the major program of the French embassy in China. She cooperates with UNESCO for the World Urban Forum (WUF) IV in Nanjing, organization of the side event with the University of East China and publication of Historic Cities Revitalization, a Social and Human Approach. Pr Maria GRAVARI-BARBAS Professor Maria Gravari-Barbas is Vice-Provost for International Relations in Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. She has a degree in Architecture and Urban Design (University of Athens, 1985) and a PhD in Geography and Planning (Paris 4 Sorbonne, 1991). She is the Director of the EIREST, a multidisciplinary research team dedicated to tourism studies, with main focus cultural heritage, development, and urban-tourism evolutions. From 2008 to 2017 she was the director of the Institute for Research and High Studies on Tourism (IREST) of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. Since 2009 she is the director of the UNESCO Chair of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and the coordinator of the UNITWIN network Tourism, Culture, Development, comprising 30 top level universities all around the world, including in China. Pr Dominique VANNESTE Dominique Vanneste is Professor at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Division of Geography & Tourism. She is involved in the research groups of Human Geography and Tourism and is the director of a Research and Development Unit ASTOR (Association for Tourism Research) as well as program director for the Erasmus Mundus Master in Sustainable Territorial Development. She represents KU Leuven with the UNITWIN-UNESCO network Tourism, Culture, Development, together with prof. Koen Van Balen and prof. Noël Salazar. Her main research interests and lecturing topics are: Economic geography (regional development, networking and location factors), Historical geography (relationship between landscape, heritage, identity and conservation) and Tourism (sustainable tourism and governance, heritage tourism, geo-tourism). Her research approach combines these elements looking at tourism and heritage as a lever for local and regional development and the role of stakeholders in general and networks in particular. Pr WU Chengzhao Professor WU Chengzhao is Ph.D. candidate supervisor of Department of Landscape Architecture, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University. He is also member of Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), member of America George Wright Society (GWS), member of America Society of Landscape Architecture (ASLA), deputy secretary of International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA), vice chairman of Regional Tourism Development Professional Committee, Regional Science Association of China (RSAC), vice chairman of Tourism Geography Professional Committee, Geographical Society of China (GSC), member of Landscape Planning &Design Professional Committee, Urban Planning Society of China (UPSC), member of Academic Committee of Tourism Tribune. Pr XU Hong Professor XU Hong has an education background of both tourism management and economics in Nankai University. She taught at Tourism Department of Nankai University since 1984 and serves the China Tourism Education Association, China Women Travel Committee, China Tourism Association, China Travel Leisure Association, Economic Research Association of Tianjin Bohai Rim, Tianjin Municipal Government Advisory Committee, and some other important associations and organizations as well. Her main interest areas are tourism industry ecology, tourism destination competence, tourism supply-chain management, tourism enterprises strategy and innovation management, and service management and financial management. To date, Professor Xu is the author and co-author of over 80 scientific publications. Over years she has accumulated extensive research and consultancy experiences in tourism industry management and service management. Dr YANG Minja 5

President & professor at Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation of KU Leuven) since 2010 after 30 years service in UNHCR and UNESCO. From human settlements of refugee camps, her interest grew in vernacular architecture then to heritage cities, alongside her continuous query on culture and development. She was Deputy Director, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, then Director, UNESCO Regional Office in Delhi. Pr ZHANG Chaozhi, Dr. Chaozhi Zhang is professor and the Associate dean of tourism at School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University China. He holds a doctoral degree of tourism management and focuses his research on tourism development in heritage destinations. Over years, Professor Zhang has played significant roles in a number of international organizations and consultancy projects within the areas of heritage conservation and sustainable tourism, which have considerable impact on heritage tourist destination management of China. Two of his books on heritage tourism have been well received by researchers and practitioners, and many of his work has appeared in top tier Chinese and English journals. Ms ZHANG Yu, Consultant, journalist and cultural engineer With an MA in Culture and Media Management of Sciences Po Paris and a BA in French of Shanghai International Studies University, Yu Zhang started in the event industry in Shanghai before working with some of the major French publishing houses on editorial projects of exhibition catalogues and art books during her study and later as a freelance editor. She joined the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in Paris in 2009 and was Head of Communications and Publications between 2014 and 2016. In addition to raising the international profile of the organization, she also managed international projects connecting the organization with partners in Brazil, China, Italy, etc. She contributes regularly on cultural subjects for newspapers and magazines in China and lecture internationally on Chinese museums' practice. She now dedicates herself to China-related cultural projects and provide consulting services and training to institutions. Pr ZOU Tongqian Pr ZOU holds a Ph.D. in Management, Nanjing University. Professor of Tourism, Beijing International Studies University. Executive Vice President, China Academy of One Belt and One Road Strategy. Professor Zou is the Vice Chair of World Tourism Cities Federation Expert Committee, the Vice President of China Tourism Education Association, a member of National MTA Education Steering Committee, Degree Committee of the State Council. He was awarded the honors of Beijing Great Wall Scholar, Beijing Outstanding University Teacher. Professor Zou is the chief lecturer of the State Fine Course Tourism Attraction Management. Professor Zou is the chief investigator of several projects, including: Guidelines for Good Tourism, sponsored by UNESCO, Strategic Management for Heritage Tourism Resources in China, sponsored by China National Fund for Social Sciences, etc.. He has written or edited 12 books and published over 100 papers in academic or professional journals. Publications include: Study on the Management Pattern of Tourism Attraction in China, Heritage Tourism Management, etc. Professor Zou s researches focus on tourism destination development and management, heritage tourism, and rural tourism. 6