2014 Sichuan International Cultural Tourism Festival Kicks Off

GUANGYUAN, China, June 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- With the theme of "Beautiful China -- Jianmen Shu Path", 2014 Sichuan International Cultural Tourism Festival kicked off in Guangyuan Jianmen Pass Scenic Area on June 26. Through the event, Sichuan intends to show the world its tourism strength and strengthen tourism exchange and cooperation.

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Wang Qizhang, Deputy Secretary-General of Sichuan Provincial People's Government, presided over the opening ceremony, with the presence of Du Jiang, Deputy Director-General from the China National Tourism Administration, Zhong Mian, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and Executive Vice Governor, Francesco Frangialli, Honorary Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Mario Hardy, COO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Hao Kangli, Director General of the Tourism Administration of Sichuan Province, Ma Hua, Secretary of the CPC Guangyuan Municipal Committee, and Wang Fei, Mayor of the City of Guangyuan. Besides, more than 250 representatives of travel agencies and media from nearly 20 foreign countries and regions, consular officials in Sichuan, representatives of tourist offices and chambers of commerce, and domestic journalists also attended the opening ceremony.

This event aims to promote new tourist routes and products with Sichuan cultural diversity and characteristics, especially Jianmen Shu Path-Three Kingdoms cultural tourist route. It also serves to create a tourist destination in the northern region of Sichuan and encourage tourism growth in the area in order to further enhance Sichuan's cultural tourism brand. By focusing on ecological and cultural characteristics, new sightseeing and vacationing-based tourist products have been developed and promoted with an emphasis on the four international tourism brands, namely pandas, Jiuzhai Valley, prairies and Shangri-La, so as to strengthen the soft power of the province and strive to realize the goal of being a world-renowned tourist destination. During the opening ceremony, Guangyuan was awarded with a plaque that read "Sichuan Tourist Product Demonstration Base". Jianmenguan Town and Zhaohua Ancient City were awarded with a plaque bearing the words "Tourist Product Development Demonstration Base of Sichuan Characteristics". The Signing Ceremony for Sichuan Tourism Investment Promotion Project and Guangyuan Tourist Product Trading was also held, with 34 tourism promotion projects with a total investment of RMB 86.475 billion being signed by cities and investors or strategic partners. Chengdu, Guangyuan, Panzhihua, Guang'an, Yibin, Meishan, Ziyang were among the cities signed.