Hangzhou Promotes its Rich Tourism Resources Across Europe

The staging of the Hangzhou Tourism Promotional Event in Copenhagen and the presence of tourism representatives from Hangzhou at the 56th ICCA Congress in November helped showcase the unique characteristics of the iconic city located along the southern bank of the Yangtze River and promote its rich MICE resources.

With the launch of China-Denmark Tourism Year this year, Hangzhou's tourism promotion delegation, consisting of members from the Hangzhou Tourism Commission led by deputy director Zhuo Xinning, the Hangzhou Commerce and Tourism Group, the Dragon Hotel, Hangzhou New China Tour and China Travel Service Zhejiang Group, held the Hangzhou Tourism Promotional Event in Copenhagen. The event provided a platform for exchanges with over 40 local travel agencies and for the promotion of Hangzhou's tourism resources on the back of the city's hosting of the G20 summit last year. Liu Dong, Consul of Culture at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Denmark and Philip Kyhl, Business Director at Wonderful Copenhagen China, both delivered speeches at the event.

The "Hangzhou, Living Poetry"-themed promotional event focused on the city's transformation after its hosting of the G20 summit and, using a variety of media, provided attendees with detailed information about Hangzhou's tourism resources, highlighting the city's many advantages, among them:

World cultural heritage sites, including West Lake and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal;

Local cultural heritage, with a focus on the city's unique silk, tea and Buddhist cultures;

New evening entertainment products, including the "Hangzhou, Living Poetry" performance and light show;

Local MICE facilities, including the Hangzhou International Expo Center and the city's many four and five star hotels run by the world's leading hotel brands.

After the event, several Danish participants who had been impressed by the roadshow have since built connections with multiple companies across Hangzhou as they seek to roll out additional outbound tourism routes and products to the Chinese city.

The 56th ICCA Congress kicked off at the Prague Congress Centre in the Czech capital on November 12, 2017. The four-day event brought together over 1,200 participants from around the world, including officials and practitioners across the MICE community, as well as conference organizers and professional journalists. The number of attendees almost doubled from last year.

The ICCA Congress offers a great platform through which the government of Hangzhou can showcase the city's MICE resources to conference organizers from all over the world, increase the global impact of its MICE brands and build channels outside its home market. This marked the third time that the Hangzhou Tourism Commission has participated in the Congress.

Through the successful holding of the G20 Summit in 2016, Hangzhou has significantly enhanced its competence in conference reception services while improving its urban infrastructure. The city has made great strides towards creating a highly professional and diversified MICE sector by further improving its convention services. In addition to being where the G20 Summit was hosted, Hangzhou is also where the 2020 Asian Games will be held, a major event that is expected to bring new opportunities to the city's MICE sector. To further promote Hangzhou's goal of becoming an international gateway city, the local government has taken a series of measures, including consolidating premium MICE resources and putting in place favorable policies for the sector, with the aim of building the city into a top international convention destination.

The annual meeting, at which the Hangzhou Tourism Commission is a regular participant, launched the special "MICE Hangzhou" brand promotion and interactive zone at the event, providing a venue for the demonstration of Hangzhou's MICE industry and showcasing its advantages to visitors through brand exposure and on-site one-on-one discussions. Many meeting organizers as well as professional MICE media and industry insiders mentioned how the success of the G20 did wonders for putting the city squarely on the world map as a go-to conference and exhibition destination. Following the G20 Summit, Hangzhou's officials responsible for conferences and exhibitions embarked on a project to upgrade and enhance the management and execution of the entire "production chain", from bidding to implementation.

This year, Hangzhou has adopted some additional measures in promoting the "MICE Hangzhou" brand. The successful hosting of the global MICE promotion and marketing campaign "MICE in the Landscape" in Hangzhou and Paris, the roll out by the city government of MICE preferential policies and roadshows held in China as well as abroad, have gone a long way in promoting the city as a MICE destination brand. The vision is to transform the city into one that can stand side by side with world MICE leaders such as Paris, London and New York. Hangzhou will continue to explore new MICE products and improve service offerings, allowing the world to re-discover the charm of Hangzhou alongside the value add provided by the MICE sector. The city has made it a key priority to attract large conferences, creating infinite possibilities and comprehensively improving the global influence of the "MICE Hangzhou" brand.