Seoul center, tourism week add to Chengdu's global reach

A Chengdu tourism and culture week in Seoul that began on April 26 has concluded successfully.

The two organizers, Chengdu tourism bureau and Chengdu Culture and Tourism Development Group, opened a Chengdu tourism experience center in the capital of South Korea on the opening day of the event, making it the third in the world after similar centers in Hong Kong and Moscow.

Chengdu also plans to open tourism experience centers in the United States, Australia, Japan and Taiwan province this year.

In addition to the opening of the center, the Chengdu event included a promotion event on Chengdu tourism, recommendations on Chengdu's most popular tourist routes and the launch of Chengdu's official Korean language tourism website.

More than 200 people from government departments, tourism agencies and tourism columnists and reporters from the host country attended the promotion, which included information on Chengdu's fashion, food, Taoism, Three Kingdoms culture, modern arts and giant pandas.

The Chengdu tourism experience center in Seoul, where travelers can directly book almost everything needed for a trip to Chengdu through the city's partner travel agencies in South Korea, promotes differently themed tourist routes, such as food, folk culture or natural scenery, in different seasons.

South Korea is an important source of tourists for Chengdu. Last year, South Korean travelers made about 120,000 trips to Chengdu.

In March, a giant panda themed pavilion was opened in a park 40 kilometers south of Seoul. Two pandas, named Aibao and Lebao, were sent to the pavilion from Chengdu.

On April 25, Moscow's Chengdu tourism experience center was opened, which also marked the beginning of "Chengdu Gourmet Week" in the Russian capital. The Chengdu tourism bureau and the Chengdu Culture and Tourism Development Group hosted this publicity campaign.

The center is located in one of the largest Chinese restaurants in downtown Moscow. During the gourmet week, local diners could sample more than 100 varieties of cuisine from Chengdu.

Luo Jianming, the Chengdu tourism bureau Party chief, said: "Using food to promote Chengdu in Russia, we expect the Russian people to start their trips to Chengdu from experiencing its tastes. Those tastes can attract them to visit Chengdu, and fall in love with the city."

Last year, Russian tourists made 14,507 trips to Chengdu. In May last year, a direct air route between Chengdu and Moscow began.

The Chengdu tourism bureau expects the number of Russian visitors to Chengdu will rise rapidly, given Chengdu's unique culture, nature and history.

Chengdu is now connected to 164 major cities around the world via 85 air routes.