Visit Manchester Promotes North of England Tourism in China

1st November 2008

Visit Manchester (the tourist board for Greater Manchester and a division of Marketing Manchester, the agency charged with promoting Manchester on a national and international stage) has teamed up with Visit Britain on a special promotional tour to Beijing and Shanghai from 17-18 November and 20-23 November respectively. Visit Manchester is promoting Manchester as a gateway to the north of England by building relationships with key travel agents and maintaining relationships with existing key trade organizations. Chinese travelers wishing to travel to the UK will be glad to know that local travel agents will be fully informed and equipped to introduce Manchester as an ideal business and travel destination. 

The mission in Beijing consisted of a travel trade workshop where UK suppliers met key Chinese travel trade and media. Around thirty travel agencies and media were in attendance.  Visit Manchester had one-on-one appointments with many of the attending travel agencies to talk about tourist highlights and logistical details.

Following the Beijing trip, Visit Manchester traveled to Shanghai for a trade evening reception and China International Travel Mart (CITM), one of China’s largest and most established annual travel fairs held in Shanghai and Kunming alternately.  During the first two days of the fair Visit Manchester spoke to many travel trade visitors about Manchester as one of the most vibrant tourist destinations in the UK and Europe. On the last two days Visit Manchester spoke directly to potential travelers and consumers. More than 30,000 visitors were in attendance. 

This is the second time Visit Manchester has exhibited at CITM.  This year’s booth included a competition for visitors which featured a signed shirt provided by Manchester United. Visit Manchester also highlighted one of UK’s most prominent enduring artistic platforms, Manchester International Festival, which launched Monkey, a major theatrical performance critics hailed as a “kaleidoscope of incredible animation, spectacular visual effects, acrobatics and martial arts". What began as a legendary tale known and loved by Chinese for generations has now become Monkey, a modern opera adapted from the original Monkey King (Sun Wu Kong), the all-time-favorite Chinese mythological novel for over five centuries. Premiering at the 2007 Manchester International Festival, the opera has had sold out runs in London, Paris, and the U.S and is now running a month-long residency at London’s o2.

Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester said, “Monkey is just one more example of how diverse our community is. Manchester is a unique, culturally-rich city with strong ties to Chinese culture – from Chinese students studying at university here and restaurants in Chinatown, to events at the Chinese Arts Centre.”