Christopher Cocker [Source: SPTO]

The Chinese government has donated $200,000 to the South Pacific Tourism Organization for post-COVID-19 recovery.

This will be used to assist island countries.

It has also paid around $400, 000 for the new annual membership fee of the organization.

Chief Executive, Christopher Cocker thanked China for their continuous support.

China is an important market for tourism growth in the region given the number and spending power of Chinese tourists.

There is also great potential for the tourism cooperation between China and the Pacific island countries which attract a total of 2.1 million visitors each year.

Cocker says thanks to the effective control of COVID-19, Chinese people made almost 700 million domestic trips to visit families and friends during the Chinese National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival two weeks ago.

Such short-term mass transit is unimaginable in many other places in the world, which shows China’s confidence in containing the pandemic.