Mattel-themed daycare and educational centers will drive tourism growth in China, China’s largest tourism operator said at ITB Berlin.

Jim Qian, Senior Vice President of Fosun, said the Mattel-branded facilities will be “the second part of our business which will grow very quickly.”

The first of these “Miniversities” is to open in the Bund Finance Centre in Shanghai.

The club is to include a play area, a classroom and day care, retail space featuring Mattel, Club Med and additional Fosun-affiliated products, as well as a food and beverage area.

Qian said the project combines knowledge gained from the company’s hostile takeover in 2014 of Club Méditerranée, with Fosun’s experience in Asia.

In November 2018, Fosun International floated Club Med on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It sought to raise $548 million from investors to fund growth in China.

Qian said the company needed to grow in Asia, given that 48 percent of the company’s revenue is already in Europe but only 26 percent in Asia.

He expects tourism in China to benefit from proposed Chinese government plans to grant workers longer vacations.

The work-from-home trend should also give Chinese people greater flexibility in travel, he added.

Chinese outbound tourism grew 14.7% in 2018, but slowed to around 7% in the last quarter of 2018, according to data unveiled at ITB Berlin.

Tourism comprises 11% of Chinese GDP with leisure tourism comprising the largest market segment in the tourism industry, Qian said.

This is strictly an exclusive feature, reprints of this article in any shape or form without prior written approval from 4Hoteliers.com is not permitted. Michael Scaturro is reporting exclusively for 4Hoteliers.com at ITB Berlin 2019 - www.4Hoteliers.com/itb.

Contact us for ITB Asia 2019 and ITB Berlin 2020 marketing opportunities.