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Sichuan aims high to revitalize tourism industry

By Hou Lei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-05-07 23:41

Inbound Market – A Promising Income Source

The domestic market is not the only one being stimulated by the price lowland policy. The province has also attached great importance to the inbound tourism market, even amid the current global financial crisis.

European countries, China's Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as Japan are the major focus of Sichuan's inbound tourism market, according to the Sichuan Tourism Bureau.

"Most of the foreign tourists willing to visit post-quake Sichuan are from Europe and North America", the bureau said, citing a report by Mckinsey & Company, a world leading management consulting firm.

Tourists pose for photos at the Dujiangyan scenic spot, Dujiangyan City, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 6, 2009. [Wang Jianfen/ chinadaily.com.cn]

European tourist arrivals in Sichuan province in 2008 was just 121,400, down 37.81 percent from 195,200 in 2007, due to the May 12 earthquake and global economic downturn.

Full coverage:  Sichuan, One Year On Related readings:  Quake tourism puts off locals  Tourism begins to revive in SW China's quake zones  Sichuan receives US$2.3 b in quake donation  Sichuan earthquake claims new victim

Another report released by Sichuan tourism authorities on April 15 showed that foreign tourists are especially interested in Qiang ethnic group culture and the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong, both of which suffered serious destruction in the May 12 earthquake.

In March, a delegation from Sichuan province led by Vice Governor Huang Yanrong attended the Berlin International Tourism Exhibition, one of the world's most famous exhibitions, aiming to promote five travel routes among European tourists.

The Sichuan delegation held a market program called "Night of Sichuan", inviting more than sixty travel agencies and media, making it one of the most popular exhibition booths.

"It is estimated that nearly 200,000 people visited the Sichuan exhibition booth during the Berlin exhibition," said Sichuan Tourism Bureau.

The promotion event brought new business opportunities to Sichuan. TUI，German's No 1 tour operator, organized 20 travel agency representatives from more than 10 countries to visit Sichuan's tourist sites in late March.

"We invited them to Sichuan so that they can have better understanding of the province and rebuild European tourists' confidence in Sichuan," the provincial tourism bureau told chinadaily.com.cn.

Hong Kong residents can apply for the Panda Card conveniently through four local travel agencies beginning on May 4. With the tourism card, each tourist can save as much as 708 yuan (US$104) on the admission fee.

Taiwan tourists who visited the pair of giant pandas "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan" at Taipei Zoo earlier this year can enjoy half price discounts and even get free tickets at many scenic spots in Sichuan.

Local tourism authorities will provide convenient online services for tourists, knowing that more than 50 percent of European tourists make travel plans and order tickets via the Internet.

Controversy on Tourism Reconstruction

Despite Sichuan's ambition to revitalize tourism and the progress it has already made, several programs have sparked public debate about the proper use of reconstruction funds.

Beichuan, a county which suffered mass destruction in the earthquake, is reportedly building a quake museum at a cost of 2.3 billion yuan (US$336 million).The is compared to the county's 2007 fiscal revenue of 114 million yuan (US$16.7 million).

Wu Chuangfu, an expert who led the expert panel planning the museum's reconstruction, said that only 135 million yuan will go into the museum's construction, while the remaining investments are being used to protect ruins, construct roads and strengthen the mountain areas, etc., according to an earlier China Daily report.

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