China hopes to attract more tourists from Russia to explore the nation's stunning natural scenery and embrace its rich cultural heritage, as part of the Chinese tourism authorities' campaign to demonstrate that the nation's appeal is more than just cute pandas and nice beaches on the Hainan Island, the top Chinese tourism official in Russia told Sputnik on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2019) China hopes to attract more tourists from Russia to explore the nation's stunning natural scenery and embrace its rich cultural heritage, as part of the Chinese tourism authorities' campaign to demonstrate that the nation's appeal is more than just cute pandas and nice beaches on the Hainan Island, the top Chinese tourism official in Russia told Sputnik on Thursday."Most people [in Russia] only know the Hainan Island when they think about traveling to China. We hope to show them that there are many other destinations in China that are worth visiting. We have drafted 13 different themes to recommend to foreign tourists who are interested in visiting China, featuring destinations such as the Great Wall, the Silk Road, the Grand Canal and the Yellow River. We hope to build a new brand image of tourism in China by linking the finest destinations," Wang Xiaoxia, head of the representative office of China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Russia, said.
Wang's office has been working with travel agencies in Russia to introduce more diverse tour packages to Russian visitors, who typically prefer to go to Hainan Island in Southern China to enjoy a vacation on the beach.
Wang believes Russian tourists would be interested in exploring other touristic destinations in China, once they have learned more about those places.
"Many Russians are not uninterested in cultural destinations. Many people here actually love destinations with rich history and cultural heritage. But the problem is many of them still don't know so much about China. Another challenge is that they don't know how to get to those places. We hope to cultivate this market [in Russia] by helping them understand China better and find out what's interesting to them. Then we can show them that it's not difficult to reach those places," she said.
As part of their efforts to help Russian visitors learn more about various destinations in China, Wang's office decided to hold a two-day event on Thursday and Friday to celebrate the Chinese New Year in the Okhotny Ryad shopping center located next to the Kremlin in downtown Moscow. In addition to offering a first-hand experience of traditional Chinese arts such as calligraphy and Chinese paper cutting, the event also handed out detailed information brochures on popular Chinese destinations such as Shanghai, Anhui, Gansu, Guangxi and Nanjing.
Wang noted that several travel agencies in Russia started to offer tour packages to destinations in Southwest China such as the Jiuzhai Valley National Park, Shangri La in Yunnan and mountain climbing routes in Guizhou.
Anna Lebedeva, a 22-year-old student who studied Chinese language at the Shanghai International Studies University, showed great interests in learning more about other tour destinations in China, when she visited the event at the Okhotny Ryad shopping center on Thursday.
"I studied in China for half a year. In addition to Shanghai, I have also visited Nanjing and Hong Kong. I would like to visit more places in China. For example, I have heard Zhangjiajie and Huangshan are both very beautiful places. I plan to visit those places when I return to China to continue my studies in half a year," Lebedeva told Sputnik.
Lebedeva added she would recommend her friends to visit such Chinese cities as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guilin, Xi'an and Beijing to have a taste of contrasting experiences those places can offer, from modern metropolis to beautiful natural scenery and rich cultural heritage.
According to the latest official figures from Chinese authorities, the number of Russian tourists visiting China has been growing steadily in recent years and topped 2 million in 2017.
Wang, the Chinese tourism official, acknowledged that the depreciation of the Russian Currency that began in 2014 has hurt the competitiveness of Chinese destinations among Russian visitors, as the prices in China have become less affordable compared to closer locations such as Turkey.
Nevertheless, Wang believes China can try to improve its competitive edge by offering better quality of service.
