Wenzhou Meets Rome: A Cultural and Scenic Extravaganza Unfolds This Summer

When Wenzhou meets Rome, a grand celebration of art and scenery unfolds in the summer. On July 4th local time, the Wenzhou Culture and Tourism Promotion Event was successfully held at the InterContinental Rome Palace Hotel, sharing the poetic charm of Wenzhou’s thousand-year-old commercial port with Italian audiences.

“World's Wenzhou, Love by all”

Leveraging direct flights between Rome and Wenzhou, as well as the rich"overseas Chinese" cultural heritage, the event showcased Wenzhou's unique tourism offerings through resource presentations, itinerary launches, partnership signings, and networking exchanges. Attendees were treated to an immersive experience of Wenzhou’s millennia-old landscapes and vibrant urban life. Three specially designed travel routes for the European market were introduced: an 8-day in-depth tour of Zhejiang starting and ending in Wenzhou, an 8-day trip covering Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces, and a comprehensive 15-day tour of Zhejiang and Shanghai, providing diverse options for tourists seeking a deeper exploration of Wenzhou.

An invitation was extended to Roman travel agencies to visit Wenzhou during the autumn season to personally experience its scenic beauty, culture, and hospitality. Representatives from both regions' travel industries signed strategic cooperation agreements on mutual customer source exchanges. Discussions also covered areas such as interconnectivity of flight routes, reciprocal product promotions, and mutual tourist exchanges, aiming to establish regular cooperative mechanisms.

Italy is a significant hub for overseas Chinese from Wenzhou and represents a core inbound tourism market with immense potential. Previously, Wenzhou Overseas Dragon Boat Base and Wenzhou Cultural Exchange Center were established in Rome. With the favorable policies of 240-hour visa-free transit and regional transit visas now in place, coupled with direct flights from Milan and Rome to Wenzhou and the strong ties of the"overseas Chinese" community, there are unparalleled advantages for enhanced cultural and tourism exchanges between the two cities.

Building on Wenzhou’s international brand as an“East Asian Cultural Capital,” efforts will focus on deepening cultural and tourism exchanges with other East Asian Cultural Capitals. Special attention will be given to eight cities with direct flights to Wenzhou, including Rome, Milan, Madrid, Bangkok, and Seoul, as well as regions with significant concentrations of Wenzhouese expatriates like Italy and Spain. Additionally, collaborations will be fostered with Wenzhou’s 39 sister cities and countries with close trade relations with Wenzhou. Through targeted cultural and tourism promotions,“Global Wenzhou” aims to present a more dynamic and lively image to international tourists, continuously promoting the prosperity of the inbound tourism market.(Ran Mengdie)