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Headlines bring in tourists, says mayor
Updated: 2010-03-10 13:04
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Zhao Xiaoming, the mayor of Zhangjiajie, a city in the northwestern part of Hunan province, is of the belief that to grab tourists, you must first grab headlines.
"In tourism marketing, 70 percent of your success depends on publicity, and 30 percent on scenic resources and virtues," Zhao told China Daily.
"So, hype is not a bad promotional ploy, as long as it gets more people to Zhangjiajie and gets them to know the city better,” he said.
The 54-year-old mayor became the publicity stuntman for the UNESCO World Heritage site after he presented himself as a cartoon figure, singing and dancing to the tune of John Denver's hit track Take me Home, Country Roads last year.
Zhao, a deputy to the National People's Congress, is in Beijing to attend the annual legislative meeting this week.
He said endorsing his city was perhaps the best thing for him to do for the benefit of his people.
Tourism is a pillar industry in Zhangjiajie, which is home to 1.6 million people. Last year, the city attracted nearly 20 million tourists, making it one of the most visited places in China.
Zhao’s video clip has generated 220 million hits on the website so far, according to sources with the city’s government.
"It (the video) is a huge success and it has convinced me that cunning media hype, especially on new media, can make a stormy sea stormier, and play a unique role in tourism marketing," he said.
Most recently, local people added a poster to identify the Southern Sky Column, a craggy peak in Zhangjiajie, as the floating "Hallelujah" mountain depicted in the Hollywood blockbuster Avatar.
The mayor said his city had enough evidence to show that many of the background scenes in Avatar were based on the real pictures of Zhangjiajie.
（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Renee Haines is an editor and broadcaster at China Daily. Renee has more than 15 years of experience as a newspaper editor, radio station anchor and news director, news-wire service reporter and bureau chief, magazine writer, book editor and website consultant. She came to China from the United States.
