Bermuda has made a major impression during a global tourism summit in China, according to Premier Ewart Brown.

Dr. Brown, delivered a keynote address to the conference in Beijing yesterday, then hosted a dinner for 200 representatives from around the world.

He said afterwards: "It's been a fantastic experience. It sets the foundation for an eventual relationship with China, and sets up the likelihood that what is now a trickle of business visitors will grow into a flow."

China's tourism industry has grown dramatically in recent times in terms of both inbound and outbound visitors.

According to the official website for the World Tourism Marketing Summit, the country hosted a record 124 million travellers in 2006 and the number of Chinese tourists travelling to foreign shores will swell to more than 100 million by 2020.

Dr. Brown is attending the summit, which concludes today, in his capacity as Minister for Tourism and Transport. Hosted by the Beijing Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China, it has brought together hundreds of travel and tourism industry leaders from 24 nations around the world.

Dr. Brown said prior to the event, that he hoped to glean new ideas for expanding Bermuda's tourism reach and exploring opportunities for joint ventures. Bermuda is a major sponsor of the event.

He told the delegates about the success of the high-profile PGA golf tournament and Bermuda Music Festival in recent weeks, commenting: "October turned out to be the exclamation point on a blockbuster summer for us.

For the summer, overall tourist arrivals are up, visitor spending is up and hotel occupancy is up. Bermuda is in the throes of a high gear tourism turnaround after almost a decade stuck in neutral."

He also commented: "In my beautiful country, there is limitless potential for our tourism industry. One of the reasons I wanted to be here in Beijing this week is because I want to learn a great deal more about the Chinese tourist.

"Like so much of the world, Bermuda wants to tap into this seemingly bottomless pool of consumers. It will be an uphill climb, but we're ready for the challenge. And the timing is crucial.

"We want to start chipping away at this mission before we have the new hotel beds so that when are new hotels are built we will already have made inroads with new travellers from new markets."

Noting the arduous 16-hour plane flight from China to Bermuda, Dr. Brown said: "Convincing a Chinese traveller to come visit us from Beijing is a challenge; however, we are certainly willing to give it a shot. We'd be silly not to."

And he expressed confidence that it would be easier to attract Chinese business travellers from New York, a mere two-hour hop away.

After delivering his address, he told The Royal Gazette: "People from China like the same things that most visitors like about Bermuda — the golf, spas and locations. When we showed our video this morning there were many 'oohs' and 'ahs' in the room and scores of questions."

Dr. Brown has been accompanied on his visit by Marc Telemaque, Cabinet Secretary and Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism and Transport, and Press Secretary Glenn Jones.

He is set to participate in a Ministerial round table today along with representatives from as far afield as Jordan, Tanzania and Sri Lanka.