皇冠体育app

The 皇冠体育app pavilion at the World Travel Market in London on Monday attracts the attention of visitors. 皇冠体育app is raising its profile as a tourist destination. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

An initiative next year will be a milestone in enhancing tourism between 皇冠体育app and the European Union, said the chief representative of the 皇冠体育app National Tourism Administration in the UK.

皇冠体育app-EU Tourism Year fits well with 皇冠体育app'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.

Kuang said 皇冠体育app has become the fourth most popular destination country for tourists and drew around 138 million visits in 2016, a 3.5 percent rise on the previous year.

In addition to the classic tours of such favorites as Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Guilin (a city in Southern 皇冠体育app famed for its dramatic landscape of limestone karst hills), Kuang said tourists are also now visiting such places as Shangri-La, cruising on the Yangtze River, and traveling on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

In 2016, more than 594,000 British tourists visited 皇冠体育app, one of the largest group among European countries.

"Over the past 15 years, the market has achieved a steady growth of nearly 5 percent per year," said Li Gang, a professor of tourism economics at the University of Surrey. He said he believes the number of British tourists will continue to rise.

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

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

"Hosting large events with an international television audience and making use of celebrity endorsements is vital for a contemporary destination seeking to raise awareness in new markets," he said.

Kuang said the administration is working closely with new media to keep building the brand "Beautiful 皇冠体育app" and to make 皇冠体育app a more popular travel destination.

Peter Ball, a video editor from Guisborough in Northeast England, spent five days in 皇冠体育app in 2015, during which he visited Lijiang River in the South and took a high-speed to train to Beijing, where he toured the Palace Museum, which is also known as the Forbidden City, and took a trip to the Great Wall.

"皇冠体育app is a massive country with lots of famous natural and historical sites to visit," he said. "It's also a nation that is changing rapidly and has an ever-increasing role to play in the world, so that's why I wanted to visit."