Saipan and Chengdu explore economic and tourism cooperation
Note: Tourism officials from Saipan visited Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan province on Nov 8. Here is what they experienced in this city that is increasingly becoming one of the most attractive tourism destinations in the world.
Officials from Marianas Visitors Authority, the Saipan government's national tourism office, visited Chengdu in early November to explore potential tourism cooperation with their counterparts in this city in Southwest China's Sichuan province.
Marian Aldan-Pierce, chairman of the board of Saipan Tourism; Chris Concepcion, Saipan Tourism managing director; and Xing Tao, CSO of Imperial Pacific, started their visit on Nov 8.
That morning, seven international and domestic tourism companies signed contracts of strategic collaboration with the Sichuan Tianfu New Area. The projected investment is about 215 billion yuan (about $31.2 billion).
Chengdu, a rising star among vacation destinations, was named "The City of Food" by UNICEF. In 2015, Chengdu received 191 million people and generated 240 billion yuan in revenue.
According to American Express, Chengdu's foreign visitors increased from 480,000 in 2009 to 1.49 million in 2015 - the growth rate was ranked No 2 worldwide.
In 2016, travel website Trip Advisor ranked Chengdu as a top 10 must see place and The New York Times also chose Chengdu as one of its top 52 must-visit destinations.
New Century Global Center
Aldan-Pierce and Concepcion checked into the Intercontinental at New Century Global Center. New Century Global Center is the largest single structure building in the world with more than 1 million square meters. It houses a huge indoor beach in the center of the structure, with twin Intercontinental hotels flanking each side.
The center was designed by famous architect Zaha Hadid. It includes space for leisure, cultural exhibitions, conferences and offices.
Dr. Jeannie Yi, deputy vice-chairwoman of the Chengdu Overseas Friendship Association, said she hoped the oceanic decors of the center would give guests the feelings of a home away from home.
The Saipan group members were more interested in how to attract hotels and clients to their home.
Concepcion invited Zhang Jun, chairman of the Shanghai Yudu Group, who is also the owner of three Marriott hotels, to visit Saipan.
"In Saipan, we have only Grand Hyatt, and we would love to have Marriott. With your dual identity, you could bring us both Chinese tourists from LA and from China," Concepcion said.
