Chengdu holds court among world's top tourist sites

City predicts total number of visitors will reach more than 4 million this year

The tourism industry in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China, has grown by dynamic proportions over the past six years.

It ranked second in the annual MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index report, released in July, among cities with the fastest growing number of tourists from 2009 to 2015.

Among the 10 fastest growing tourist cities in the world (based on data gathered over the last six years), seven are in Asia. Sri Lanka's capital city of Colombo is first in growth with a staggering 21 percent surge, with Chengdu, the capital of China's Sichuan province, following in second (with growth of 20.7 percent), according to the report.

According to data from the Chengdu tourism bureau, the number of visitors coming into Chengdu, as well as the number of tourists traveling out of the city, surged this year. By Sept 30, that figure reached 300.6 million, up 28 percent year-on-year and up 70 percent from the first nine months of 2013. The bureau predicts the total will reach more than 4 million this year.

As an ancient regional political, economic and cultural center in Southwest China, Chengdu has a history of more than 3,000 years.

It has a diversity of tourist attractions, from historic sites to picturesque landscapes. Surrounding the city are breathtaking snow-capped mountains as well as grasslands along the eastern border of the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau. Colorful ethnic cultures abound in Chengdu.

The city is mostly known as the hometown of the giant panda, a rare animal found only in China, and for its spicy Sichuan food and performance arts.

UNESCO named Chengdu a City of Gastronomy on Feb 28, 2010, making it the first Asian city to win the title and the second in the world after Popayan, Colombia, in 2005.

"As the cradle and development place of Sichuan cuisine, one of China's four major styles of cooking, Chengdu has profound culture and outstanding natural conditions, enjoying the fame of 'Land of Abundance' and 'City of Gastronomy'," reads UNESCO's introduction of Chengdu in its report published on Dec 4, 2011.

The city's tourism bureau said in a statement that one reason why tourism in Chengdu has skyrocketed is because of the city's convenient transportation routes to the world.

Chengdu has nearly 100 direct international air routes. A second airport will begin operations in 2020 with an annual handling capacity of about 40 million passengers. The Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport handled 37.5 million passengers last year.

In recent years, the Chengdu tourism bureau and the Chengdu Cultural and Tourism Development Group have launched a series of tourism products.

There are 33 large-scale tourism promotional activities about Chengdu in India, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Czech, Poland, Slovenia and Russia this year.

Chengdu's tourism packages for Russia cover a range of fields, including healthcare, economy and trade, education and a 72-hour visa-free policy for international transit passengers. The number of Russian tourists coming to Chengdu has increased rapidly this year. It also attracts a high number of tourists from Sydney.

At Milano Expo 2015, Chengdu promoted 21 themed tourist lines, Sichuan cuisine, teas and its performing arts. More than 8,000 media outlets around the world covered the expo.

Chengdu's official English-language website for tourism, Come to Chengdu.com, was launched in the United States this year, and a promotional video about Chengdu tourism was played in New York's Times Square and at San Francisco International Airport.

Chengdu succeeded in bidding for the 22nd General Assembly Session of the United Nations World Tourism Organization in September. Beijing hosted the conference, the highest-level meeting of the WTO, in 2003. Chengdu will be the second Chinese city to host the event.

The WTO is an intergovernmental body entrusted by the United Nations with the promotion and development of tourism.

The 21st General Assembly of the UNWTO was held from Sept 12 to 17 in Medellin, Colombia, with 1,200 representatives of 158 member countries of the organization in attendance.

Contact the writers through liyang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/04/2015 page24)