Howard C. Smith

Howard C. Smith (President, CHINASMITH, Inc., a travel agency and tour operator to China and Southeast Asia), has an undergraduate degree in Economics with minors in Asian Studies, political science and theatre. He also holds a Law Degree (J.D.) from New York Law School. For his undergraduate degree, he attended Grinnell College, the College at New Paltz of the State University of New York, and Fudan University in Shanghai. Prior to completion of his undergraduate education, Smith worked in various areas of the performing arts, including production, performing, and management positions on stage, in radio, in television, and on film. Touring domestically and internationally in management positions with groups such as the Martha Graham Dance Company, The National Ballet of Washington, D.C., and John Houseman’s The Acting Company introduced him to most aspects of the travel business.

Smith’s first travel to Asia was in 1974; since 1981 he has traveled to China over 60 times. After extensive work as a China tour escort, he developed and was the first director of the Commercial Travel Department of Inter Pacific Tours International. In China, he has worked on-site managing personnel and services for exhibitions and conferences in Tianjin, Hangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai. In addition to his professional work in travel and performing arts, Smith is an officer of a Tenant’s Association active in the renewal of tenant-managed affordable housing in partnership with the City of New York.