NCT Signs Friendship Agreement with City in China
CARSON CITY, NV, April 19, 2007. The Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) signed its eighth tourism friendship agreement with a Chinese destination today.
NCOT Director Tim Maland and Deputy Director Steve Woodbury met with a delegation from the Guilin Municipal Tourism Bureau to sign an agreement to promote tourism between the city of Guilin and Nevada. Guilin is a popular visitor destination in the southern region of China well known for its beautiful Li River winding through the Yuecheng mountain range. It was one of the first Chinese cities to open its doors to Western visitors and its scenery is among the most photographed in China.
"Since becoming the first U.S. entity fully licensed to advertise tourism in China, we have made great strides in putting our state at the forefront of international tourism," Lt. Gov. Brian K. Krolicki, NCOT chair, said. "With these friendship agreements, we can forge ahead with the mutual goal of attracting visitors to our respective destinations."
NCOT now has friendship agreements with eight Chinese destinations, the most of any U.S. tourism agency. Past agreements have been signed with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Tourism, Lone Mountain-Jiu Gong Mountain in Hubei Province, Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission, Liaoning Provincial Tourism Administration, Shangdong Provincial Tourism Administration, Hubei Tourism Administration and the Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province. While not legally binding documents, they are another step in positioning Nevada as a leader in international tourism and are promises between Nevada and the Chinese provinces to mutually promote one another as prime travel destinations.
"We have worked hard as an agency to establish relationships in China, and we are beginning to see the fruit of those relationships," Maland said. "Tourism entities in China want to be linked to us because they recognize what an exciting destination Nevada is. And we want to be linked to them to send visitors their way and take a little bit of Nevada with them."
The Guilin tourism representatives traveled to Carson City to sign the friendship agreement on their way to Pow-Wow, an international travel trade show in Los Angeles.
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