Seoul center, tourism week add to Chengdu's global reach

The bureau signed a cooperation agreement with its counterpart in St. Petersburg to make efforts to attract tourists from the two cities to each other, and strengthen communications on bilateral tourism.

On April 22, the Chengdu tourism delegation visited the Confucius Institute in the Moscow State Linguistic University, promoting Chengdu's tourism resources and inviting the university's students and teachers to visit Chengdu through exchange programs or as tourists.

In late April, the Chengdu tourism delegation visited Etihad Airways' headquarters in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and signed a strategic partnership agreement with the airline.

Chengdu plans to use the airline's planes and airports to publicize its tourism.

Etihad Airways launched an air route between Chengdu and Abu Dhabi in December 2011, making Chengdu the second city after Beijing on the Chinese mainland to have a direct route to Abu Dhabi.

In March, return flights between the two cities increased from four flights a week to seven.

The Chengdu tourism bureau also took part in a Chinese mainland tourism promotion in Hong Kong and Macao, hosted by the National Tourism Administration of China, from April 6 through 11. The delegation visited the Wing On Travel Agency in Hong Kong and a Chengdu tourism experience center in Hong Kong was set up in the travel agency.

The Chengdu Culture and Tourism Development Group also signed a cooperation agreement with Ctrip International's branch in Hong Kong, making the online tourism service provider a partner of the center.

According to the Chengdu Culture and Tourism Development Group, establishing the Chengdu tourism center in Hong Kong is an important step to accelerate Chengdu tourism's international marketing, as Hong Kong is a regional hub that connects many other countries and regions, and has a developed tourism market.

Tourist sites around Chengdu that feature snowcapped mountains, Taoism, giant pandas, ancient towns, ethnic culture and history are expected to be popular attractions for Hong Kong travelers.

Hong Kong has been the largest source of travelers to Chengdu from outside the Chinese mainland for many years.

Last year, about 300,000 Hong Kong travelers visited Chengdu. Four airlines operate direct air routes between the two cities.

Contact the writers at liyu@chinadaily.com.cn