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The China Tourism Leisure Association has been established in Qingdao, in Shandong province.

Duan Qiang, chairman of Beijing Tourism Group Company, was elected the director of CTLA, and Wei Xiao’an, researcher of China Tourism Academy, was elected the secretary-general of CTLA.

The association will strive to create a better policy environment for the leisure travel industry by being the bridge between its members and tourism enterprises; between the industry and consumers; between the industry and the governmental administrative departments; and work towards better international exchanges and cooperation.

At the inaugural meeting of CTLA, 77 institutions were defined as the council members and 46 executive council members were elected.

Following the establishment of the Yalong Bay Mangrove Tree Resort, Antaeus Group is to develop the Qingdao Mangrove Tree Resort in Lingshan Bay, Qingdao.

According to local media, the construction area of the five-star standard resort will be 400,000 square meters. It will have over 3,000 guest rooms: the equivalent of ten ordinary hotels.

Antaeus Group hopes to build the resort into the largest resort and convention hotel in northern China. Besides the movie service, shopping street, and water park that already exist in Yalong Bay Mangrove Tree Resort, the new resort will also have recreational facilities such as an indoor canal street, an indoor ice rink, a hot spring spa, and an eco-restaurant.

A 50,000-square-meter convention and exhibition center will be constructed with cinemas, art gallery, red carpet square, culture and art plaza, and a ballroom that can accommodate between 4,000 and 6,000 people for banquets or meetings.

A cooperative agreement was signed recently by Shandong Airlines and the Qingdao Tourism Administration to promote their joint development.

Under the agreement, Shandong Airlines and QTA will jointly develop the domestic tourism market by initiating marketing activities together in targeted tourist source markets. For inbound tourism, the two will organize promotional teams to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea to promote Qingdao to the world and to attract more foreign tourists.

In addition, a new independent travel product combining air tickets, hotel accommodation, and entry to scenic spots will be developed specially for people with paid leave. A workgroup will also be set up to supervise the implementation of agreement and specific cooperation programs.