NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's city of Shanghai launched Tuesday a tourism campaign in New York City with the debut of the first VR promotional video showcasing a panoramic view of the beauty of the metropolitan city.
The campaign was led by a delegation from the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, who introduced new tourism products and latest policy updates of Shanghai to a room of more than a hundred New York City travel industry insiders.
The updates include new direct air routes, new landmark skyscrapers, the opening of Shanghai Disneyland, 144-hour visa-free entry for transit passengers, and the new tax refund policies.
"Shanghai is a city of rich and unique details," said Meihong Cheng, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, "there is so much to explore in the city and we encourage tourists from the U.S. to come and experience it first-hand."
The event also featured the debut of a promotional video powered by virtual reality technology. Starring Shanghai's tourism ambassador, actor Hu Ge and the rising bel canto band named Vocal Force, the video presents Shanghai as a wonderful and charming city from multiple aspects.
The U.S. is one of the largest sources of inbound visitors to Shanghai, and it's important to promote Shanghai to potential tourists in the U.S., Cheng said.
Shanghai saw more than 636,000 tourists from the United States in 2015, up 0.61 percent from 2014.
As a part of the "China-U.S. Tourism Year" programs, Shanghai and New York City had signed an agreement for a two-year tourism partnership on July 14. Under the agreement, both cities would promote each other and provide tailored travel products.
"Shanghai and New York City play important roles as gateways for airlift, but also as leaders for the (tourism) industry in general," said Fred Dixon, CEO of NYC & Company, the agency responsible for promoting New York City.
"We share best practices, we assist in promoting each other," said Dixon, "it makes a lot of sense and is just great to work with."
