Largest Chinese group to visit US meets in California

Orange County is getting ready to welcome guests from China. From left: Jay Buress, President and CEO of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor& Convention Bureau; Caroline Betata, Presdient and CEO of Visit California; Nicky Tang, Asia Pacific Sales Director at Disneyland Resort; Ed Fuller, CEO of the Orange County Visitors Association. [Provided to China Daily]

The largest single group of Chinese to ever visit the United States is gathering in Anaheim, California, as Perfect (China) Co Ltd brings 7,000 of its professionals to the Orange County city.

Perfect (China) is a direct-marketing company that sells health food, household and beauty and skin care products. The majority of the 7,000 attendees at the Perfect (China) meeting that started on May 19 and ends on June 2, are top-tier direct marketing professionals coming from various companies in China. The main conference and banquet will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center on May 27.

The group's event will generate an estimated $85 million for the Anaheim area, and the 7,000 attendees will fill 13,000 to 14,000 hotel room nights at more than 30 area hotels. During their visit, attendees will spend a day at the Disneyland Resort and will visit the county's shopping destinations, including South Coast Plaza. The visitors also will explore some of Orange County's 42-miles of coast and classic Southern California beach towns. Side trips to other Western cities are also planned.

"We are ready to show Chinese friends the real California lifestyle here in Orange County," Ed Fuller, CEO of the Orange County Visitors Association (OCVA) told China Daily in an interview. "We know California is the number one destination to Chinese tourist and this year they will see it and fall in love with it."

The convention is co-hosted by (OCVA), and the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau (AOCVCB), and CITS International M.I.C.E. Co, Ltd, in coordination with hundreds of local hotels and Disneyland Resorts.

While OCVA and AOCVCB coordinate the hotel accommodations for Chinese guests, CITS International M.I.C.E. Co, Ltd -the Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition (MICE) company based in China - will handle the bus transportation to take the visitors to major attractions. Disneyland Resorts will host the convention and banquet dinner on May 27.

"The Perfect (China) meeting is one of the most significant international meetings ever held in the United States. We are honored that they've chosen Anaheim and Orange County as their home base," said Jay Burress, president and CEO of the AOCVCB.

"As the largest tourism enterprise in China, CITS considers this largest Chinese MICE Group to Orange County an opportunity to increase interest in travel to the United States," said Zheng Lijuan, general manager of CITS International M.I.C.E. Co Ltd.