Monica Torline • The Desert Sun • May 5, 2009 Plans to host a large delegation of Chinese government officials, corporate leaders and tour
operators in the Coachella Valley next week have been postponed due to concerns over the H1N1 virus. The first California Sunshine Charity Invitational Golf Tournament was supposed to be held May 13 at PGA West in La Quinta — near the anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake, which killed more than 69,000 people. The CVA is moving forward with a protocol session scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday. Participants will become familiarized with Chinese culture and how to deal with the marketplace there.
The excursion is part of greater efforts by the California Travel and Tourism Commission to reach out to the travel market in China, which is estimated to have 100 million outbound travelers by 2015, according to the World Tourism Organization.