Sanya in Baltic region promotion, flying Riga direct soon

From August 21st to 29th, 2019, a Sanya tourism promotion delegation is visiting Latvia, Croatia, and Hungary to promote Sanya tourism on the Baltic coast and in the Nordic region and to enhance cooperation with local cities. The five-member delegation consists of Rong Liping, Chairwoman of the Sanya Municipal Political Consultative Conference and the group leader, personnel from the Sanya Municipal Political Consultative Conference, personnel from the Sanya Bureau of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports, and personnel from the Sanya Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

From August 21st to 22nd, the delegation visited the Ministry of Transport of Latvia, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), and the Riga International Airport. Meetings featured discussion between Arnis Muiznieks, director of the Ministry of Transport, Andris Ozols, director of LIAA, and Ilona Lice, Riga Airport’s CEO. The various groups discussed various issues: establishing a direct flight route from Sanya to Riga, the mutual development of tourism products, and business communications. Initial consensus was reached in the discussions.

On August 23rd, a Sanya (Riga) tourism promotional event was held at the Radisson Hotel in Riga. Over 60 guests attended the meeting, including the following: Sun Yinglai, chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Latvia; Shen Xiaokai, economic and commercial counselor at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Latvia; Arturs Kokars, Riga Airport’s advisor; Marta Ivaninoka-Cjina, LIAA Culture and Tourism representative in China; Latvia’s Chinese community representatives; and tour operators and media representatives from Lativia, Finland, and Lithuania.

Rong Liping gave an introduction to Sanya’s rich natural, cultural, and historic resources, its visa-free policy to 59 countries including Latvia, and the region’s distinctive coastal travel products. “Sanya’s beauty, passion, and prospects are greater than we can describe,” Rong said. She also invited the people of Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland to Sanya for travel, investment, and cultural experiences. Shen Xiaokai and Arturs Kokars also made speeches in which they talked about further cooperation between Sanya and Riga, and expressed support for the establishment of direct flights.

At the meeting, the group also communicated with government departments and enterprises in Latvia. Many enterprises showed great interest in helping Hainan Island develop into a free-trade zone (port), and expressed willingness to invest in Sanya, along with hope that a direct flight would soon. Maksims Pipekevics, a representative of Days Travel Group, remarked, “The eight Nordic-Baltic countries are among 59 countries to which Hainan offers visa-free access. Nationals of these countries can enjoy visa-free travel to Hainan and stay for up to 30 days. This makes Sanya visa-free travel products a real highlight.”

Since the beginning of this year, Sanya has sponsored tourism promotional events based on the city government’s “Go Out” and “Invite In” marketing strategy, and has built major marketing channels and overseas promotion centers in many cities. Cooperating with global travel groups such as the U.K.’s Thomas Cook and Taiwan’s Colatour, Sanya has sponsored a worldwide series of “one-stop comprehensive marketing” campaigns. Thus far, marketing campaigns have been launched at promotion centers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and India.