China aims to appeal to more European tourists

[Photo: from VCG]

A tourism milestone will be reached next year with an initiative between China and the European Union, said the chief representative of the China National Tourism Administration in the United Kingdom.

China-EU Tourism Year fits well with China's aim to attract more European visitors, said Kuang Lin, who was speaking ahead of the World Travel Market, an international travel trade show running in London until Wednesday.

In 2016, more than 594,000 British tourists visited China, one of the largest groups from among European countries.

James Kennell, principal lecturer in tourism at the University of Greenwich, said China is still a great unknown for potential British visitors.

He suggested China's national tourism agency raises the country's tourism profile by funding television programs, and developing greater travel trade and media awareness of China through public relations efforts, paid-for-content and familiarization trips. 

[The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI.]