Zhejiang Provincial Tourism Administration Promotion
Quaint water towns and challenging golf courses and picturesque mountains and delightful wineries … these are only a few of the attractive aspects that appeal to Australians visiting the highly popular Zhejiang Province, Yao Sheng Hou told a gathering of travel industry partners and media attending a Zhejiang tourism promotion in Sydney earlier this week.
The Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Tourism Administration headed a 10 member delegation which was on a promotional tour in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.
[Pictured: Liu Cheng, Deputy Director, China National Tourist Office (Australia and New Zealand) (left) welcomes Yao Sheng Hou, Deputy Director, Zhejiang Provincial Tourism Administration to Sydney.]
Mr Yao said that 61,000 Australians visited the coastal province located south of Shanghai in 2006. If current arrival patterns continue he anticipates a significant increase to 80,000 Australians this year.
Zhejiang Province which received more than 4.2 million overseas visitors last year is home to one of the world’s oldest civilisations, said Mr Yao.
Cultural heritage tours have been developed to showcase this aspect of the popular province. As well, there are specific tours that encompass folk customs, leisure opportunities and shopping, he added.
Mr Yao said that visits to the quaint water towns could easily be included in itineraries to the well known provincial capital of Hangzhou where the West Lake is a major attraction.
[Pictured: The water town of Shaoxing offers visitors endless scenes of classic China.]
Shaoxing is particularly noted for its classic waterscapes. Most Australians, however, are not familiar with the lesser known provincial destinations of Huzhou, Quzhou, Jinhua, Lishui, Wenzhou, Jiaxing, Ninbo, Zhoushan and Taizhou although each of these centres has numerous cultural, scenic and/or historic attractions. Several also have water town areas, he said.
China retains its interest for Australians. Last year 520,000 Australians visited the country. The January – June total was 280,000 which represents an increase of 40 per cent over last year during the same period.
The arrival figure from Australia is expected to top the 600,000 mark by the end of December.
Exclusive Report by Thomas E. King, TravelMole’s Travel and Lifestyle Editor
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