US travel agents explore tourism opportunities

SHANGHAI — During her first visit to China, Jennifer Chernay, a travel consultant from the United States, posed for photos on a bench along the winding corridor of the Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai, holding a stuffed panda.

The garden Chernay visited has many attractions, including traditional Chinese pavilions, greenery, ponds and views of the skyscrapers in Shanghai's financial zone.

"Yuyuan Garden is a place where tradition meets modernity. I like it," says Chernay, who works at Kahala Travel.

From Sept 9 to 20, she and more than 10 other travel agents from the US, many of whom were visiting China for the first time, explored cities such as Beijing, Xi'an in Shaanxi province, Chongqing and Shanghai, riding the "China Travel" wave, which has become a popular trend on social media.

"I think it would be a great experience for my clients to taste China's spicy Sichuan food or Beijing duck and meet friendly Chinese people," Chernay says.

She says that Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi'an, where the tour delegation viewed the Terracotta Warriors and experienced making warrior models, had left a deep impression on her.

The group found it difficult to make the little Terracotta Warrior figurines, so it was "mind-blowing" to think that ancient Chinese people built the life-size ones by hand, she says, noting that she was impressed by their wisdom.

Gabriel Valeriano, a marketing assistant at California-based Elite Voyages, says: "In China, there are high-speed trains from one city to another and many places have subways and buses. Public transportation is easy and we do not always need to rent a car."

Valeriano says that in-depth tourist routes connecting cities like Beijing, Xi'an, Chongqing and Shanghai would be attractive to his clients. "People should see the past, present and future of China," he adds.

He says that traveling to Asia has become more popular as the country has gained increasing exposure on social media in recent years. China's 144-hour visa-free transit policy has also benefited the development of Asia cruise tours.

"We are designing cruise tours of over 10 days to Asia, which connect countries including China, Japan and the Republic of Korea," he says, adding that tourists can stay in each country for a few days and experience different cultures.

China Tourism Group Travel Service employee Bo Lin says that the travel agent tour aimed to boost travel from the US to China and reinforce the outcomes of the 14th China-US Tourism Leadership Summit in Xi'an in May. CTG Travel is one of the organizers of the trip.

"We showcased China's rich tourism resources, from ancient architecture and traditional culture to the modern life of residents, to our US friends," Bo says, adding that the tour also allowed the travel agents to learn about China's latest efforts to promote convenience in inbound tourism.

In the first seven months of this year, the number of foreign visitors to China soared 129.9 percent year-on-year to 17.25 million, according to the National Immigration Administration.

China has been continuously optimizing its visa-free transit policy and enhancing its mobile payment systems. This month, Shanghai updated its guide for inbound travelers. The comprehensive guide in English covers communication, payments, transportation, hotline numbers, visas, tax refunds and emergency assistance, among other topics.

"I think there is a lot of potential and great growth points for China's tourism market," Chernay says.

Xinhua