Los Angeles, California, USA. 25th October, 2019. The Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism in China held the 2019 “Splendid Hunan” Culture and Tourism Promotion Event at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles to promote tourism and international cultural exchange between the U.S. and Hunan. The “Splendid Hunan” promotion focuses on international tourism to the province of Hunan in China and includes the launch of international air flights and marketing promotions to the travel industry. A cooperation forum was held between the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, travel industry representatives, and Xianchun Chen, the Director of Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, before the start of the main event.
During the promotional event, Mr. Xianchun Chen, Director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, said that culture builds friendship, and tourism shares happiness. He emphasized the importance of strengthening exchanges and cooperation with the U.S., and the tourism industry and cordially invited everyone to consider traveling to Hunan for vacation and sightseeing. Some of the attendees to the “Splendid Hunan” event included Jin Gu, Consul and Head of Cultural Office, Consulate General of People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles; Ernest Wooden Jr., President and CEO, LA Tourism & Convention Board; Ning Wu, Director, China National Tourism Office, LA; Luis Chiappe, Senior Vice President of Research and Collections, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Imdad Ali, Sales and Account Manager, Hainan Airlines Los Angeles, and other honorable VIP guests, travel agencies, media, tourism, and cultural industry representatives.
The 2018 “Splendid Hunan” Tourism Promotion event was held last year in Los Angeles on September 12, 2018 and very successful. This year, they wished to continue to deepen and strengthen exchanges with the US tourism industry, so that more American tourists will travel to Hunan and fall in love with the beauty and culture of Hunan. It is believed that through the cooperation between Hunan and the U.S., Hunan will further deepen the cultural tourism exchanges and tourism opportunities, and make new progress towards the friendship between China and the United States. In January 2016, the Hunan province debuted its first direct flight to the United States, from Changsha to the Los Angeles, making travel to Hunan more convenient for American tourists.
Hunan has abundant tourism resources, beautiful natural scenery, profound cultural heritage and rich ethnic traditions. The world-famous travel guide publisher, Lonely Planet, released its annual ‘Best in Travel’ awards. Among all the provinces in the country, Hunan was selected as one of the world’s top 10 best value travel destinations in 2018.
During this promotion event, the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism fully demonstrated the three major tourism branding, including “Hunan with Mountains and Lakes”, “Hunan Culture”, and “Hunan Delicacy”. Apart from highlighting the World Natural Heritage Zhangjiajie and Langshan, three boutique travel routes were also promoted, including the “World Heritage Tour” (Changsha – Zhangjiajie – Fenghuang), the “Hometown Fame Tour” (Changsha – Shaoshan – Zhuzhou) and the “Ancestor Worship Tour” route (Changsha – the Mausoleum of Emperor Yandi, Zhuzhou – Nanyue District, Hengyang – the Mausoleum of Emperor Xundi, Yongzhou).
In addition, Hainan Airlines also introduced the round-trip flight from Los Angeles to Changsha, creating a more convenient travel option for both Chinese and American visitors. Hainan Airlines also sponsored a business-class round-trip ticket from Los Angeles to Changsha for the event. The three intangible cultural heritage showcases, including Hunan Dark Tea Performance, Xiangtan Shadow Puppetry, and Hunan Embroidery, and other Hunan-style performance allowed the guests to enjoy the diverse and rich culture of Hunan. During the event, there was also a lucky draw, with specialty gifts such as Xiang Embroideries and Batik Fans, allowing the audience get a sense of the great craftsmanship of Hunan.
The “Splendid Hunan” event series also includes the “Taste of Hunan” event in Pasadena on October 26th, and two culture and tourism promotion events in Mexico and the Dominican Republic on October 29th and November 1st, respectively. This culture and tourism promotional event series is looking to boost cooperation in the tourism industry, and open up the gates between Hunan, the U.S., and other countries.
