China begins Silk Road Tourism Year 2015 to attract more visitors

Travelbiznews Report ———-

XI’AN:China kicked off “Beautiful China, 2015- Year of Silk Road Tourism” in Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province to attract more tourists on the ancient Silk Road which linked China with central Asian nations.

According to China National Tourism Administration ( CNTA ) , tourism industry and representative tourists at home and abroad gathered at the Daming Palace National Heritage Park in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province to witness the launch of the Beautiful China, 2015 -Year of Silk Road Tourism campaign on January 8 , 2015.

CNTA Vice Chairman Du Jiang and Deputy Governor of Shaanxi Bai Aying addressed the opening ceremony.

On the occasion ,Vice Chairman Du Jiang pointed out that it’s of special significance for CNTA to designate the year of 2015 as the Year of Silk Road Tourism. The campaign is a major step taken by the tourism industry to implement the “One Belt, One Road” strategy, present golden opportunities to promote the integrated tourism development along the Silk Road in China, major means to deepen tourism cooperation between countries along the Silk Road and  promote inbound tourism. The tourism industry, open and comprehensive, boasts unique first-mover edges in the “One Belt, One Road” national strategy and should take the initiative to “be the first mover in connecting with other countries.”

The ancient Silk Road spanned across Asia and Europe, played an irreplaceable role in bridging eastern and western culture and promoting commercial and trade contacts, and left us world renowned ever-popular tourist routes; now, the strategic vision to construct “One Belt, One Road” presents precious historical opportunities for tourism development in countries and regions along the Silk Road.

” Tourism conveys peace and friendship and boosts development as the ancient Silk Road did. Let’s join hands, make innovative explorations, provide more diversified products and better services to tourists at home and abroad and contribute more to the new development of the ancient Silk Road, “he added.

According to Deputy Governor Bai, Shaanxi was a major cradle of the Chinese people and the Chinese civilization and the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. Beautiful China is an international tourism brand of China built by CNTA. Shaanxi will take this opportunity to work with sister provinces/regions/municipalities, quicken the pace of “going global”, strengthen cultural and tourism communication and cooperation with other countries and regions along the Silk Road, enhance the international influence of the brand of Silk Road tourism and culture and add to the charm of Beautiful China.

The slogan of the campaign is “Explore Beautiful China along the Silk Road” and “New Silk Road, New Travel Experience.”

The launch ceremony presented the cultural, historical and tourist resources of “One Belt, One Road” under the themes of “Light of Silk Road”, “Dream of Silk Road” and “Journey of Silk Road”.

According to CCTV news , the industrious and brave people on the Eurasian continent opened several trade routes connecting major civilizations across Asia, Europe and Africa. Together, they were referred to as the “Silk Road” 2000 years ago. Now, it’s viewed as a lucrative tourism market.

The new Silk Roads, both land and sea, involves 65 countries. Future co-operation will aim to open more direct flights, and ease custom procedures to eliminate barriers to travel.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has proposed the “Belt and Road” initiatives to revive the ancient Silk Road and promote shared prosperity. The initiative prioritizes infrastructure and connectivity-an opportunity that tourism operators won’t miss.

Silk Road Tourism will be intensively promoted in the next three years, giving travelers more options to their itinerary.

Every year the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) sets a theme for tourism promotion. Inspired by the Silk Road, China will promote western provinces for their rich culture and tourist appeal , Xinhua states.

Nineteen Chinese and foreign cities along the Silk Road issued a declaration that they will jointly develop tourism along the ancient trade route in June 2014.

The cities will promote tourist itineraries and explore tourism resources to rejuvenate the area and seek mutual benefit, according to the declaration, issued at the opening ceremony of the fourth Silk Road International Tourism Festival in Zhangye City of northwest China’s Gansu Province last year.

The 19 cities include some in China’s Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Taiwan, as well as in Belarus, Ukraine, Bahrain, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Nepal.

The initiative comes under China’s strategic vision of the Silk Road Economic Belt, a strengthened set of trade infrastructures along the ancient Silk Road.

The Silk Road Economic Belt was first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping last year. Strengthening economic ties along the route is seen as an opportunity for China to continue its opening up to the world and maintain economic advances.The Silk Road connected China and Europe from around 100 B.C.( Source : CNTA /CCTV/ Xinhua)
Jan. 10 ,2015