The First China-Russia International Tourism (Beidaihe) Fair was held successfully from April 25 to 26 in Beidaihe, a coastal city of Hebei province. The fair, hosted by the Hebei Provincial Tourism Administration and Qinhuandao People’s Government, set up a platform of communication for the administrative departments of tourism in both China and Russia. Traveler’s agencies, tourism hotels, and the related trade companies exhibited in booths, with on-the-spot transactions, and through tourism forums.

Zhu Haowen, Qinhuangdao’s mayor, delivered a speech at the fair. He said tourism constitutes a most natural and most effective way to strengthen the communication, deepen the understanding and enhance the goodwill between the people of China and Russia.

Qinhuangdao has exploited the tourist market in Russia since the late 1990s. Based on years of efforts, the tourists from Russia to Qinhuangdao reached 52,000 in 2011, and Beidaihe has become the largest tourist destination for Russian tourists in Northern China. Qinghuangdao’s coastal leisure tour is becoming one of the favorite tourism activities.

Mr. Kuzminykh Alexey, the Russian ambassador to China, extended appreciation to the National Tourism Administration of China, the Hebei Provincial Tourism Administration, and the Qinhuangdao municipal government on behalf of the embassy. He said that the fair serves as good platform to promote the friendly communication among cities and business cooperation among the tourism operators from both countries.

The China-Russia Tourism Fair is organized with utmost care by the Hebei Provincial Tourism Administration and the Qinhuangdao municipal government, said Man Hongwei, director of the Department of Tourism Promotion and International Cooperation. It has created a very good platform for the tourism communities of China and Russia to demonstrate their tourism resources and to promote practical cooperation in tourism between China and Russia.

The China-Russia Tourism Development Forum put great importance on the fair. At the forum, the experts and scholars from the tourism communities of China and Russia shared their insights and elaborated on the current situation and prospects of tourism development in China and Russia.