Russia launches tourist office in Shanghai to boost presence in China’s travel market

SHANGHAI, November 10 /TASS/. The opening of a ‘Visit Russia’ office in Shanghai will increase Russia’s competitive advantages in China’s tourism market, Sergey Korneyev, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism), told TASS on Thursday after the office’s opening ceremony. "We hope to increase Russia’s presence in China’s tourism market, which is quite a promising destination for inbound tourism. Today, the Chinese are among the most active travelers in the world," he said. According to statistics from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Korneyev noted that 120 million Chinese tourists travelled abroad in 2015, spending about $105 bln during those foreign trips. "It is a big piece of the world tourism pie, which is worth fighting for," Korneyev stressed. "China should open tourism opportunities to Russia to enable it to occupy a reputable place among other competitor states, which want to attract Asian visitors. That is why the national tourism office was one of the first to open in Beijing in October 2015. The second office is opening in Shanghai today. We have been using it to enter China’s regions, where the country’s middle class - those energetic and financially reliable clients - are concentrated. Shanghai, which is China’s business center, is one of such regions," Korneyev added. The Visit Russia project, which is being implemented by the Federal Tourism Agency and private investors, seeks to promote inbound and outbound tourism in Russia. Sergey Korneyev, deputy head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, officially announced the project’s launch on July 3, 2015. Billboards advertising Crimean resorts popped up in cities of those regions that year. While a campaign to advertise China’s northeastern cities got under way in Crimea. Read more