Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane to visit Haikou for China Sports Tourism Expo

Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane will lead a five-member delegation to China in November, the second trip in less than two years to promote the city's tourism and reinforce business, education and cultural ties.
Lane was invited to attend the 2011 China Sports Tourism Expo in Haikou. The city, in the southern island province of Hainan, is Scottsdale's sister city as of March 2010.
Haikou's government is sponsoring the trip for delegation members, Lane said.
"My biggest goal would be to make sure we are recognized in the international Asian community as a tourist destination," Lane said.
Scottsdale is planning an exhibit at the expo with the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, Chamber of Commerce and other entities. The expo runs Nov. 11-14.
Business people and tourists also will make the trip, said Max Rumbaugh, Scottsdale Sister Cities Association president.
The cost is about $3,000 for airfare and hotels, and includes travel to Taipei, Taiwan as part of a side trip to promote sports such as golf and spring-training baseball, he said.
The full trip runs Nov. 9-18.
Lane said he extended a trip invitation to groups including the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.
He last visited Haikou in March 2010.
Besides warm weather, the sister cities share low pollution, extensive resorts and golf properties, and robust tourism industries that attract winter visitors from the north, according to the Sister Cities Association.
Travelers may purchase booths at the expo and meet existing contacts, Rumbaugh said.
The group will visit a tourist site about 100 miles south of Haikou with beaches. Other planned activities include visiting high schools, building bridges between students and expanding cultural ties after artists from Haikou exhibited their work at a Scottsdale library, he said.
Scottsdale also has sister cities in Alamos, Mexico; Cairns, Australia; Interlaken, Switzerland; and Kingston, Canada. Marrakech, Morocco was being explored.
SOURCE: azcentral.com
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