U.S. governor leads tourism campaign in China

With videos of snow-capped peaks and scenic valleys, the governor of the U.S. state of Utah launched a tourism campaign in Beijing Wednesday to lure more Chinese tourists.

Although the United States is not among the 129 approved destination for Chinese tourists, Jon Huntsman was confident that Utah would prove an attraction for many Chinese.

Along with videos, brochures and a promotional website in Chinese, Huntsman also brought a business delegation to study exchanges in economy and trade.

Last year, 1.56 million Americans visited China, while Chinese visitors to the United States totaled just 560,000, said Liu Kezhi, director general of marketing and communications with the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), at the press conference Wednesday.

With 1.3 billion people in China compared with 300 million in the United States, the figures showed a huge tourism potential, said Liu.

On October 9, Los Angeles set up a tourism office in Beijing, the first city-level tourism office approved in China, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

The Unites States was likely to gain Approved Destination Status (ADS) in the near future, as the two sides had achieved significant progress in negotiations, said Shao Qiwei, chairman of the CNTA, at a tourism campaign for China held in Los Angeles in September.

At the campaign, Mark Liberman, president and executive officer of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the biggest obstacle for the United States to getting ADS was its strict visa procedures.

Source: Xinhua