Amex alliance set to serve China demand

By Mark Armsden BEIJING American Express (Amex) and China International Travel Service Head Office (CITS) have launched CITS American Express Travel Services Limited to meet the expected boom in conference, meeting and events traffic into China. CITS American Express Travel Services will provide business travel management services to clients from multi-national corporations, regional companies, and domestic companies throughout the country. Services to be provided by the company include convention and meeting management, obtaining visas, international and domestic flight reservations and ticketing, hotel reservations and other land arrangements. "We are confident China's economy will continue its strong growth in the coming years following its accession into World Trade Organization," Amex senior vice-president, head of corporate services, Japan/ Asia-Pacific/Australia Mr Tim Johnson said. "We estimate the annual business travel and entertainment expenses in China to be US$10.3billion. Out of this, US$ 4.2billion is annual business travel expenses. This is 17% of the business travel market in Asia." CITS Head Office president Mr Li Lu-an said the joint-venture would raise the standards of business event co-ordination throughout China.