2016 U.S. - China Tourism Year Closing Ceremony
The China National Tourism Administration hosted the 2016 U.S. - China Tourism Year Closing Ceremony on Sunday, November 20 at the Warner Theatre in Washington, DC. The event celebrated the partnership in travel and tourism between the United States and China with officials from both countries pledging that the closing ceremony was not an ending but rather a waypoint in the expansion of our tourism cooperation and friendship.
Honored guests included U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang, China National Tourism Administration Chairman Li Jinzao, National Travel and Tourism Executive Director Kelly Craighead, and Brand USA president and CEO Chris Thompson. The highlight of the evening was a joint musical performance by The Philadelphia Orchestra and China National Centre for The Performing Arts Orchestra. Secretary Pritzker and Vice Premier Wang read aloud letters from Presidents Obama and Xi, respectively, congratulating all parties on a successful year of collaboration and recognizing the ongoing importance of tourism and people-to-people connections to the bilateral relationship.
On Monday, November 21 following the closing ceremony, Brand USA hosted Chairman Li Jinzao and delegates from China on a mini-familiarization trip to historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to explore the town and join a tour of Gettysburg National Military Park, the site of a major turning point of the U.S. Civil War. Delegates enjoyed local farm-to-table cuisine and were treated to a guest-lecture by a renowned Abraham Lincoln impersonator. The day’s events culminated at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History for a showing of National Parks Adventure, Brand USA’s giant-screen film celebrating the centennial of the National Parks Service.
In September 2015, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping designated 2016 as the U.S. – China Tourism Year in recognition of the ever-closer cooperation and steady development of U.S. – China tourism. The Tourism Year focused on mutually beneficial enhancement of travel and tourism experiences, cultural understanding, and appreciation of natural resources within the travel industries of both countries and among U.S. and Chinese travelers. In February, Brand USA worked with the China National Tourism Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce to launch the Tourism Year by hosting a gala in Beijing that included a high-level government and industry program and award-winning cuisine and entertainment from the United States. The event was held during Brand USA’s first-ever sales mission to China, a three-city trip that gave 40 partner organizations an opportunity to meet and market their individual destinations to prominent Chinese travel agents and tour operators.
Brand USA has been the organizing force for the U.S. travel and tourism industry under the Tourism Year, pushing resources and information to the U.S. travel and tourism industry to engage and leverage the platform of the Tourism Year. For example, an online toolkit launched earlier this year contains resources such as in-depth consumer and market intelligence, the Tourism Year logo, a master calendar, videos from President Obama and Secretary Pritzker, Brand USA cooperative marketing opportunities and more. Brand USA also recently launched a “China readiness” training program that is available to all partners and that Brand USA is lending to regional tourism conferences around the United States over the next year.
Brand USA is highly active in China with consumer marketing, robust travel trade outreach, and cooperative marketing platforms. The consumer marketing is entirely tailored to the China market and features heavy digital and social presence across established and emerging Chinese channels. To reach the travel trade and travel media, and collaborate with the U.S. embassy and consulates, Brand USA has established representation offices in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. Many of the cooperative marketing programs that Brand USA offers to its partners in China make use of this impressive media and trade footprint.
