To fulfill the "Belt and Road" initiative and the requirements of the EU-China Tourism Year, the "City of Olympics, Linked by Silk Road" – Charming Beijing Tourism Promotion Conference was held at the Zappeion, Athens, Greece as scheduled on the afternoon of May 8, 2018. That day, Chinese and foreign leaders including Cai Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of Beijing Municipal Committee, Ms. Elena Kountoura, Minister for Tourism of Greece, Zou Xiaoli, Chinese Ambassador to Greece, Guo Yezhou, Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, , as well as nearly 200 representatives of the Greek tourism industry jointly attended the conference, and witnessed the awarding ceremony of the first batch of global strategic partners for Beijing tourism. Through this promotion conference, Chinese and Greek tourism circles deepened mutual understanding, and especially showed a keen interest in the featured tourism product route characterized by the ancient capital culture of Beijing. Relying on respective advantages in tourism, China and Greece strive to supply each other's needs, providing assistance for the development of global tourism.
Accompanied by Beijing Welcomes You sung by Chinese and Greek singer representatives, the Beijing Tourism Promotion Conference in Athens officially kicked off.
On that day, on behalf of the citizens of Beijing, Zhang Shuofu, member of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, invited the Greek people to visit Beijing. Ms. Elena Kountoura, Minister of Tourism for Greece, attended the conference, and expressed her eager anticipation of bilateral tourism cooperation.
TUI GROUP (Germany) and Manessis Travel (Greek) was awarded plaques as the first batch of global strategic partners for Beijing tourism.
“Ancient Greece is the birthplace of Olympic Games, the world’s most influential sports event; the upcoming 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be co-hosted by Beijing and Zhangjiakou. By then, Beijing will be the sole city to host both the Winter and Summer Olympics in the world. The Olympics have become the common language of Beijing and Athens. Today, we hold the Charming Beijing Tourism Promotion Conference here, with an aim to further show the charm of Beijing as a famous historical and cultural city and the Olympic legacy to the Greek people, and to seek cooperation opportunities between the tourism industries of both cities," said Cao Pengcheng, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development.
Mr. Athanasios Mayrommatis, Athens Sales Department of Air China International Corp., said when introducing Beijing tourism, “Due to my job, I often went on a business trip to Beijing. Hence, I began to be fascinated with this time-honored yet fashionable city. The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, etc., are so fascinating to me.”
Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development also held the Beijing Travel Photo Exhibition on that day. Thirty-two Beijing travel photography works presenting the outstanding "5+3" tourist products of Beijing (five culture themes concerning "Imperial City Culture", "Capital Culture", "Folk Culture", "Fashion Culture" and "Food Culture", as well as three new business patterns concerning "Study Tour", "TCM Health Tour" and "Ice and Snow Tour") were exhibited in the ring-shaped corridor of the Zappeion, one of the landmark buildings in Athens, Greece. The ancient imperial city culture and the unique charm of a modern international city were incisively and vividly shown to the Greek travel enthusiasts.
