Tourism industry professionals in Spain expect more Chinese tourists

STORY: Tourism industry professionals in Spain expect more Chinese tourists DATELINE: July 29, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:21 LOCATION: BARCELONA, Spain CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Chinese tourists 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): CHEN TINGTING, Tourist guide in Barcelona 3. various of group visiting the interior of the Sagrada Familia 4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): EDUARD TORRES, President of the Executive Committee of the Barcelona Tourism Consortium 5. various of Chinese tourists STORYLINE: As the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic eases off, Chinese tourists are flocking to Spain. Tourism industry professionals in Spain expect that this positive trend will boost the recovery of the country's tourism sector. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): CHEN TINGTING, Tourist guide in Barcelona "I've heard that large agencies aim to get through this year and then next year to get back to at least 50 percent of the pre-COVID levels, but I'm more optimistic because I see a lot of people in China really keen to travel after the pand

SWITZERLAND-GENEVA-ECONOMY-GROUP TOUR FROM CHINA-RESUME

SWITZERLAND-GENEVA-ECONOMY-GROUP TOUR FROM CHINA-RESUME

(230215) -- GENEVA, Feb. 15, 2023 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese tourist takes pictures of the scenery out of the window on the Zentralbahn from Lucerne to Interlaken, Switzerland, Feb. 14, 2023. A group of 25 people from China visited the city of Lucerne and the popular scenic spot and winter sports resort Jungfrau in central Switzerland on Feb. 13-14, after three years of pandemic-related hiatus. "I am very excited to see all these again," said Cui Chenghai, a tourist who frequented Switzerland before the outbreak of the pandemic. "It has been three years and everything here has no change, but my feeling is different." Starting Feb. 6, travel agencies and online tourism service providers in China have been permitted to provide group tours of 20 countries, and relevant airline ticket and hotel booking services have been resumed as well. Switzerland is one of the 20 countries. "I think people from different countries or of different ethnic groups in the world have been communicating less because of the pand

Indonesian president urges caution in face of COVID

STORY: Indonesian president urges caution in face of COVID DATELINE: Sept. 22, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:12 LOCATION: Jakarta CATEGORY: POLITICS/HEALTH SHOTLIST: 1. STANDUP (English): SUN LEI, Xinhua correspondent 2. various of people getting vaccinated 3. SOUNDBITE (Indonesian): JOKO WIDODO, Indonesian president STORYLINE: STANDUP (English): SUN LEI, Xinhua correspondent "After U.S. President Joe Biden said that 'the pandemic is over,' Indonesian President Joko Widodo said only the World Health Organization can make such a statement and that Indonesia still needs to remain cautious about the disease. As of Sept. 21, the island nation has recorded over 6.4 million COVID cases and more than 157,000 deaths." Widodo made the remarks on Tuesday during the inauguration of the Cibitung-Cilincing Toll Road in the Bekasi town of Indonesia's West Java province. SOUNDBITE (Indonesian): JOKO WIDODO, Indonesian president "Well, this pandemic is happening in countries all over the world. And the one who can declare the pand

Supply of labor falls short in U.S. after COVID-19 pandemic

STORY: Supply of labor falls short in U.S. after COVID-19 pandemic DATELINE: Sept. 16, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:03 LOCATION: NEW YORK, U.S. CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. STANDUP (English): XIA LIN, Xinhua correspondent 2. various of street views STORYLINE: STANDUP (English): XIA LIN, Xinhua correspondent "While the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, employers have been desperate to hire. Demand for goods and services has rebounded, but the supply of labor has fallen short, holding back the economy. 'More than two years after the COVID-19 recession officially ended, some sectors haven't found the workers they need to operate at capacity,' reported The New York Times earlier in September. In simple numbers, some of that gap is due to the pandemic's death toll: more than a million people, about 260,000 of them short of retirement age. 'For decades, a large generation aging into retirement has been the strongest factor dragging down overall labor force participation,' said the newspaper. The pand

African countries stand chance to benefit from BRICS Plus: Nigerian expert

STORY: African countries stand chance to benefit from BRICS Plus: Nigerian expert DATELINE: March 25, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:09 LOCATION: Abuja CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. SOUNDBITE (English): EFEM UBI, Director of research and studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos STORYLINE: African countries stand a good chance to benefit from the BRICS Plus, an arrangement for more emerging economies to be accommodated in the economic bloc involving Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS), a Nigerian scholar has said. SOUNDBITE (English): EFEM UBI, Director of research and studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos "Expanding that group (BRICS) will make a whole lot of sense. It is important that China brings together this group of nations to hold sacrosanct multilateralism. As individual countries, they cannot do anything. But at a multilateral dimension, they can achieve much more. Right now, with the problems like the scourge of the COVID-19 pand