 'Resort season' thrives from spring to fall
By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-20 08:09
Located in southwest China, east of the Yungui Plateau and surrounded by winding mountains and rivers, Guiyang has a charming landscape and pleasant climate. In 2007, when Guiyang was named "China's Resort Capital" by the Chinese Meteorological Society, academician Qin Dahe noted that "in order to make it a resort city, fine natural environment is necessary, but proper utilization of the natural environment is the most important decisive factor". To spread the news that Guiyang enjoys delightful weather, the city accelerated its brand building process. For three years it has held events for "escaping hot weather". Tourism income in Guiyang exceeded 13.3 billion yuan last year. In 2008, the city government upgraded its resort festival to last the entire spring and summer seasons, with its first resort season closing on Oct 18. In the next five years, large-scale tourism, cultural and promotional activities will strengthen the city's image of "Cool Guiyang, China's Resort Capital". Shao Qiwei, minister of the National Tourism Administration, gave a speech to begin the season, which has a theme song by a famous Chinese singer given widespread exposure over TV, radio and the Internet. In June, Guiyang Party Secretary Li Jun and leaders of 16 tourism agencies and six scenic spots formed a promotional group to visit Wuhan, capital city of Hubei province, and Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan province, to promote the effort. The following month, Yuan Zhou, vice-secretary of the provincial Party Committee and mayor of Guiyang, led a group to Chongqing municipality, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Guiyang tourism offices are now open in Guangzhou and Wuhan, while hundreds of tour agencies have signed agreements with Guiyang tourist companies to bring 200,000 visitors to Guiyang this year. The other events included a Chinese Entrepreneurs Summit (Guiyang), a tour by foreign journalists, the 2008 Asia Youth Animation Competition China (Guiyang) Cartoon Art Festival and visits by leaders of mainstream newspapers, city TV stations and foreign diplomats. Guiyang's own people voluntarily promoted their city in advertisements, while local companies participated by donating money and co-organizing activities Resort season activities began after this year's spring festival. To promote the effort Guiyang aired commercials on two popular CCTV shows while local websites developed content that was quoted by xinhuanet.com, people.com, sina.com, sohu.com and other major portals. In the October Golden Week holiday this year, visitors to Guiyang reached its peak capacity of 1.55 million, a 36.9 percent increase over last year. Following this year's severe southern snowstorm and Wenchuan earthquake, event organizers said the season was a great achievement in tourism industry. From January to September this year, Guiyang hosted 20.47 million visitors that generated income of 14.75 billion yuan, a 49.2 percent increase over last year. As an economic and cultural center, and a tourist destination, Guiyang offers 30 scenic spots, historical sites and abundant ethnic activities.  (China Daily 11/20/2008 page15) |
