As the largest Routes Asia event to date enters its last day in Kuching, the Ministry of Tourism Sarawak and their co-hosts Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad are making final preperations for this lunchtime's official handover of the event to Yunnan Airport Group Co., Ltd the host of Routes Asia 2015.

This will be the fifth time that a Routes event has taken place in China. In 2007 Routes Asia was held in Hainan and the following year the event took place in Macau. World Routes 2009 took place in Beijing and, most recently, Routes Asia 2012 took place in Chengdu, hosted by Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.

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In 2015 the event, which will take place 15-17 March 2015, heads to Kunming, the capital and largest city of Yunnan province in Southwest China, hosted by Yunnan Airport Group Co., Ltd. owners of Kunming Changshui International Airport, and supported by their partners Yunnan Provincial Civil Aviation Development and Management Bureau and Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission.

Speaking to The HUB Daily ahead of last night's amazing Networking Evening in Kuching, Ms. Li Yinglin, vice president of Yunnan Airport Group Co., Ltd said: “We believe that hosting Routes Asia 2015 will have important historical meaning for Kunming Changshui International Airport. We are delighted to invite all delegates to attend next year’s event in Kunming and enjoy the beautiful sights of the Yunnan Province, experience the local 26 ethnical cultures and look for the dream of Shangri-La.”

Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG) is located just 27km northeast of Kunming city centre and is currently the seventh busiest airport in China in terms of passengers and the fifth busiest airport in terms of aircraft movements. In 2013, Kunming International Airport recorded 29.7 million passengers with an annual growth rate of 23.8 per cent, including 2.17 million international passengers with an annual growth rate of 31 per cent.

Routes Asia 2015 Handover Event" width="714" height="475" />With its beautiful landscapes and mild climate the Yunnan province is one of China’s major tourist destinations. Located at an altitude of 1,900m above sea level the city of Kunming, known as the ‘City of Eternal Spring’, enjoys an average temperature of 15°C. The perpetual spring-like weather provides the ideal climate for plants and flowers to flourish. This ideal ecological environment, along with the countless natural lakes in the region, creates beautiful landscapes which have made this destination a popular holiday resort in China.

“Yunnan Airport Group has attended many Routes events over the years and we look forward to working more closely with their team over the next 12 months. Kunming Changshui International Airport is the seventh busiest airport in China with the most rapidly growing number of passengers and has undergone a complete reconstruction. Routes Asia 2015 will provide an opportunity to showcase this to the Routes community," said Katie Bland, director Routes, UBM Live.

"With its beautiful landscapes and mild climate the Yunnan province is one of China’s major tourist destinations and we are eager for our delegates to experience Kunming - the ‘City of Eternal Spring’ and Yunnan Province. After an incredibly successful event here in Malaysia it is fantastic that we are able to bring Routes Asia to China once again," she added.

** This story has been updated to include photographs from the handover ceremony **