【Record】Mr. Chen Honghui, Vice Mayor of Wuhan delivers a speech at the opening ceremony

Mr. Chen Honghui, Vice Mayor of Wuhan, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony

Mr. Chen Honghui

Honorable Minister Hu Heping, Mayor Chen Jining, Deputy Secretary-General Jonon Sherali, Vice Mayor Wang Hong, Secretary-General Chen Dong, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Good morning!

It’s my great pleasure to meet you in the golden autumn of Beijing for the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development whose value of the times is greatly highlighted against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. First of all, I’m very grateful to organizers of the conference for their considerate arrangements, granting Wuhan, a member city of WTCF, the opportunity to deliver a speech for the opening ceremony. On behalf of the city of Wuhan, I’d like to extend my warmest congratulations to the convening of this conference, and to ministries, provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, enterprises, international organizations, people from all walks of life and friends at home and abroad who have supported Wuhan with no efforts spared during the battle against COVID-19!

As a pivotal city in the central region of China, Wuhan boasts abundant natural resources as well as cultural heritage. It is an outstanding tourism city, a demo city of tourism and leisure, a model city for tourism standardization and one of the top-ten cities for night economy in China that has enjoyed booming tourism in recent years. However, COVID- 19 put Wuhan into a paused period or coma. Thanks to the guidance and support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, we have made every effort to alleviate difficulties faced by tourism companies and revitalize the tourism industry. Tourism economy in Wuhan has made a triple jump from kick-start to warming up and then firing up. On August 8th, we launched the campaign of “Travel around Hubei, Drop in on Wuhan”. From August to December this year, 23 A-level scenic spots in Wuhan are open to tourists coming from all over China who have made an appointment in advance free of admissions fees. In the past month, daily received tourists in all scenic spots in Wuhan increased by 34% year-on-year. And the overall occupancy rate of local starred hotels increased by 13 percentage points year-on-year. There has been an obvious increase in tourists from outside of Wuhan that accounted for 44.9%, significantly driving the resurrection and development of relevant service industries. Monitoring data on trip.com show an increase in August for hotel accommodation of 36% compared to July. This has pushed up hotel revenue by 40%, together with a rise in air tickets to Wuhan by 29%, and a growth of air ticket revenue by 30% compared to the previous month. The broadcasting of an electric music festival on August 18 in Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park has captured the attention of overseas media outlets and made one of the most searched hashtags for many times. All these have presented a Wuhan full of vigor and vitality to all.

Tourism recovery practice in Wuhan is highly in line with the theme of this conference - Rebuilding World Tourism for Prosperity - and has created good examples for the world tourism industry to resume business and growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On this occasion, on behalf of 14 million hospitable people in Wuhan, I’d like to invite tourists from all over the world to Wuhan for sightseeing, leisure and vacation. You are always welcome to Wuhan for top-rated experiences in the following aspects.

Come to Wuhan for the safest travel. In May of 2020, we launched a grand campaign of nucleic acid testing covering a total of over 10 million people without a single confirmed case. All 130,000 samples taken from public environment tested negative. It is proved that Wuhan is a safe and secure city and people in Wuhan are in good health. Your trip to Wuhan is most welcomed and worry-free.

Come to Wuhan for its refreshing and delicious foods. Wuhan, the Chinese Capital of Delicacy and Breakfast, is famous for cuisines of blunt-snout bream, soup of pork ribs and lotus root, and Hongshan brassica rapa. Never forget hot dry noodles, duck necks, Doupi, steamed dumplings and Wuhan doughnuts that all together have added life to this riverside city. A taste of Wuhan will widely open your appetite and satisfy your every desire.

Come to Wuhan for an interesting trip. Wuhan has a history of 3,500 years, in which two rivers meet each other and three towns stand tall. There are 166 lakes and 446 mountains dotting the city where half of its landscape is filled with water and the other half boasting magnificent mountains. Famous scenic spots you must visit are Yellow Crane Tower, Guqin Platform, Guiyuan Temple, Tan Hualin, Hankow Customs House, East Lake and Zhiyin Cruise. There must be one that’s your type considering that tourism activities in Wuhan have five features, namely tourism above blue water, tourism of green ecology, tourism for red revolution and education, tourism among antique cultural heritage, and tourism in leisure night. You will never want to leave once setting your feet in Wuhan.

Come to Wuhan and stay in the most comfortable hotels. There are 57 starred hotels and many characteristic hotels and countryside B&B in Wuhan. Most of them are near the river, along the lake, or surrounded by mountains. Outside your window are mountains, waves and frog sounds, an extremely appealing environment.

Come to Wuhan to enjoy the best services. We have promoted Tourism Plus by optimizing the overall tourism environment, improving services based on tourists’ feedback, and providing the most exquisite experience for travelers. With a grateful heart to the whole country, people in Wuhan try their best to leave slots open in appointments for scenic spots on weekends and during holidays, so that tourists from outside of Wuhan could have a chance to enjoy the beautiful and poetic scenery in Wuhan.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

General Secretary Xi Jinping praised Wuhan as a heroic city, and Wuhan people as heroes. We have firmly seized opportunities from the supporting policy package from the Central Government to accelerate post-pandemic recovery and high-quality development so as to build Wuhan in the image of a national central city and an international metropolis. We are embracing you all with fresh and dressed-up landscape. Welcome to this heroic city and enjoy your time in the impressive and memorable Wuhan.

Welcome to Wuhan. We look forward to seeing you!

Thank you!