'Friendly Shandong' sets out to woo the world

"Friendly Shandong" is now one of the best-recalled tourist brands in China. The eastern-based province has invested heavily in promoting itself as the ideal holiday destination for both domestic and international visitors. Its success has seen the province's tourism revenue double over the last three years to a total of more than 200.5 billion yuan.

The "Friendly Shandong" image is now familiar to more than 912 million TV viewers across China, according to figures released by CSM, the independent media research company that provides China's most authoritative audience analysis figures. The TV campaign is part of a 240.5 billion yuan push aimed at establishing Shandong as one of China's top holiday destinations by 2013.

Yu Chong, the director of Shandong Tourism Administration (STA), said: "We have every confidence that we can establish "Friendly Shandong" as an internationally recognized brand and make the province synonymous with tourism.