Since September 1st, 2013, Chengdu has become the 4th city in China, the 1st city in Midwest China that implements the policy of 72-hour transit visa exemption. How to make good use of this policy and how to make the “72-hour transit visa exemption” a new internationalized label to Chengdu tourism that could generate the development of inbound tourism in Chengdu and Sichuan at large, have become unprecedented questions to the Chengdu tourism marketers.

      In the past one year, Chengdu Tourism Bureau and Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group has turned this challenge into a good chance by stepping on the less traveled road of “72-hour marketing”, innovatively promoting the “72-hour transit visa exemption” tourism products with strong market competitiveness and inspiring foreigners who know about the“72-hour”policy through effective overseas marketing to really go travel in Chengdu.

      In the future, targeting at the huge inbound tourism market brought by the 72-hour transit visa exemption, Chengdu Tourism Bureau and Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group will offer more ideas and approaches to Chengdu tourism marketing and continue to launch marketing promotion programs, so as to attract more inbound passengers and accelerate the development of Chengdu as an International tourism destination.

      72-hour Opportunity
      A new era of Chengdu Inbound Tourism

      As claimed by the head of International Office of Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, the 72-hour transit visa exemption policy is mainly aimed at 51 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Australia, including main trading partners, investment sources and technology suppliers of Sichuan province like the US, the EU, the ASEAN, Japan and Korea. This policy saves time and provides convenience for foreigner travelers. What’s more, Chengdu as the 1st city in Midwest China to implement this policy will help Sichuan to become the biggest open window, the demonstration platform of industry transfer, the most influential international business center, and the most important inbound tourist destination in West China.

      Data is the best proof. According to the statistics, the 1st season after the implement of this policy (from September to December, 2013) has witnessed 700,000 inbound trips to Chengdu, an annual growth rate of 19.55%.

      Chengdu is making all the effort to become an international tourist destination. The increase of its international non-stop passenger air routes helped to accelerate the pace of opening up of Chengdu and Sichuan at large and narrowed the distance between Sichuan and global tourists. Data shows that so far Chengdu has opened 21 regular international or regional non-stop passenger air routes and 22 transit and charter passenger air routes to Europe, Oceania, Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and China’s Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is second only to Beijing Capital International Airport in terms of domestic flights. Together with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Chengdu is recognized as one of the four national aviation hubs by Civil Aviation Administration of China.

      With the increase of international non-stop passenger air routes and the implementation of 72-hour transit visa exemption policy, Chengdu’s inbound tourism meets with a new chance of rapid development.

      The overly effect the increase of international non-stop passenger air routes and the implementation of 72-hour transit visa exemption policy is obvious. More and more international business travelers become to investigate, hold meetings and travel in Chengdu. They stimulate consumptions in tourism, transportation, catering, shopping, accommodation and recreation, which further the optimization and upgrade of tourism industry, stimulate the growth of tourism economy and better the quality of tourist services.

      72-hour Tourism
      A new Business Card for Chengdu Inbound Tourism

      Till now, 10 Chinese cities have implemented transit visa-free policy. "Tourism economy of transit visitors” is a piece of attractive cake. But how should Chengdu make effective use and promotion of the 72-hour transit visa exemption policy so as to stand out among the competitors, and make the huge inbound tourist market brought by the policy a new pillar for the accelerated development of Chengdu and Sichuan inbound tourism? The key is to make the policy known to all.

      This year, Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group organized online activity in order to make Chengdu tourism a focus highlight and a hot topic to the global Internet users.

      At the beginning of this year, Chengdu launched a digital marketing themed “72 Challenge-Come to Chengdu” at the world’s biggest travel review site "Tripad-visor" that opened a special section for Chengdu, offering in-depth introduction and guide of Chengdu tourism to travelers from the US, the UK, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia who are interested in China, and receiving more than 350 million page views with page click conversion rate higher than the site’s average.

      Meanwhile, the “Chengdu Homepage” at the world's largest video sites YouTube specially designed for the marketing activity motioned above published videos like “Chengdu conjecture", "Chengdu 72 Challenge" and "wonderful Chengdu" that teach visitors how to have a nice travel in Chengdu within 72 hours. The administrators of the homepage also interacted in-depth with overseas fans through face book, which led to an overall interaction of 150 million times. The activity at the homepage made a great contribution to set up Chengdu’s brand of "72-hour tourism”.

     At the 1st anniversary of the opening up of the London-Chengdu non-stop air route in late September, Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group invited English actress Bonnie Wright who played as Harry Potter’s girlfriend to be the image ambassador of Chengdu Tourism. She experienced the folk customs in Chengdu and promoted the 72-hour transit visa exemption policy. She drank covered-bowl tea, played Majiang, which inspired the European fans’ longing for Chengdu and made them willing to travel in Chengdu under the 72-hour transit visa exemption policy.

      In the second half of this year, “Come-toChengdu.com", the English Official Website of Chengdu Tourism jointly created by Chengdu Tourism Bureau and Chengdu Culture and Tourism Group jointly was formally launched. The website, a forefront window for global tourists to know about Chengdu tourism, gives a big section to the "72-hour” tourism. The site provides a series of "72-hour transit tour" plans, labeling scenic spots that could be covered within 72 hours with “72-hour visa free transit products”. The website has invited several foreigners on the 72-hour transit tours as well as published promotional pictures, giving a most direct and most clear impression of the 72-hour visa free transit tourism products to the foreign travelers.

     The serial tourism marketing activities on 72 hours transit visa-free policy are well-positioned and tightly-linked, so they greatly stimulated foreign tourists’ enthusiasm to Chengdu. The figures tell the truth: in the first three quarters of this year, Chengdu received 1,547,200 inbound tourists, an annual increase of 17.55%.

      Let Chengdu 72 hours transit visa-free policy have more and more influence on foreigners’ travel plans. Chengdu is planning to promote the “Chengdu dreamer" marketing campaign. This campaign will take “experiencing 3000 years history and culture in three days" as the topic, choose 10 participants from those who have submitted tourist plan in Chengdu and record their   whole tour of fulfilling dreams. This activity will definitely attract more foreign tourists to have a short tour in Chengdu between their flights or during their vacation trips.

      72-hour Product
      New Highlights of Chengdu Inbound Tourism

      Over the past year, Chengdu Culture and Travel Group had launched precise marketing around the serial themes of "72-hour", offered new ideas and methods to Chengdu marketing, and provides a new business card of Chengdu inbound tourism market, so that the number of inbound tourists in Chengdu has increased.

      However, related officials of the Chengdu Culture and Travel Group sees “72-hour” with more value. Insiders of tourism industry points out that transit travelers attracted by the 72-hour transit visa exemption policy have strong tourist consuming abilities. An authority of Sichuan Tourism Bureau said that “the tourism products provided by Sichuan to transit tourists has large spaces for improvement. To fill this gap is to give the increase of Sichuan inbound tourism a new source of profit growth.

      In the face of greater market demands and bigger consumption potential, how could Sichuan further the development of products, market and marketing?

      Related officials of Chengdu Tourism Bureau indicates that ever since this year, Chengdu will provide more humanized and personalized high quality services to the 72-hour transit visa free tourists. All the tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants, airports, airlines and travel agencies has set up an association of Chengdu 72 hours transit visa-free tourism, so as to let the foreign tourists enjoy a "package" products, including meals, lodging, sightseeing, shopping and entertainment,

      Chengdu Culture and Travel Group has made various plans to promote the packaged products to the 72-hour transit visa free tourists, among which cooperation with global well-known travel agencies and major airline is the most important part.

      At present, Chengdu Culture Travel Group cooperates with Europe's largest travel group TUI to jointly develop and design a batch of thematic in-depth tour products that takes Chengdu as the transit. They integrate network marketing, channel marketing and store marketing, equip "Chengdu 72-hour transit visa exemption" with a special marketing area, offer “Industry Briefing” to people of the tourism industry and “Sales Promotion Bulletin” to common tourists that contain both pictures and texts, so as to promote Chengdu 72 hours transit visa-free tourist products, introduce Chengdu’ and surrounding towns’ tourism resources, let tourist teams decide to make Chengdu their transit city.

      Meanwhile, Chengdu Culture Travel Group cooperates with foreign Airlines like British Airways and Air France-KLM, and Air China to promote Chengdu 72-hour transit visa free tourism products. In the future, passengers who take inbound and outbound self-run flights of the three airlines mentioned above are able to take direct shuttle buses to 8 tourist routes in Chengdu and surrounding towns.

      Moreover, in the cooperation with the airlines, Chengdu Culture Travel Group will also take advantage of the foreign airlines' official website, call centers and ticket distribution channels, providing the tourists and ticket distributors with Chengdu 72 hours transit visa free tourist routes publicities, online product promotions and online trainings, making use of the interesting online activities and special offers to interesting offers, and stimulating the distributors to sell and tourists to buy tickets to Chengdu, so as to promote the 72-hourtransit visa free tourism products.