As part of its efforts to achieve the Sharjah Tourism Vision 2021, which aims to attract more than 10 million tourists to the emirate by the year 2021, the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) announced that it will organize roadshows in three Chinese cities – Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai in September 2019. The campaign, which is set to run from September 16-20, is aimed at stimulating the Chinese outbound travel market to Sharjah by encouraging them to take advantage of the UAE’s visa on arrival policy for Chinese tourists.
The growing number of Chinese tourists to Sharjah who come to explore the emirate’s cultural and heritage identity has made it one of the most important markets for SCTDA. Therefore, the roadshow will add immense value to the Authority’s efforts to attract more Chinese travelers to the emirate, by creating awareness on its product offerings and other special packages. In line with this, the roadshows in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai will see SCTDA highlight the emirate’s ambitious development projects in cooperation with the public and private sectors before Chinese audiences.
H.E. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, Chairman of SCTDA said: “The number of visitors from China during the second quarter of this year has reached to 13,289, which reflects the consistently increasing interest of Chinese tourists to visit Sharjah, and it is expected this figure will go even higher by the end of this year. In view of this growth, SCTDA’s upcoming roadshows in three Chinese cities will strengthen communication channels with travel, tourism and hospitality industry leaders, and will promote exchange of best practices, successful experiences, and insights on latest trends to effectively support the growth of the tourism industry.”
He added: “In order to promote Sharjah as a year-round family vacation destination, SCTDA has adopted an integrated strategy highlighting the emirate’s diverse tourist attractions, family leisure and tourism activities and world-class facilities. Besides, as part of the strategy, we will offer them special packages and innovative solutions based on the idea of sustainable tourism, in collaboration with our partners. These endeavors ensure the sustainable growth of the tourism and commercial sectors as major contributors to economic, social, cultural and environmental growth in Sharjah.”
SCTDA’s campaigns for 2019 focus on eco-tourism products, outdoor activities, and branded hotels to firmly establish Sharjah’s status as an ideal global family-friendly destination, in response to the directives of H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, to position Sharjah as the ideal global tourist destination.
Drawing inspiration from his vision, the Authority remains committed to enhancing the tourism sector’s contribution to the growth of the local economy by providing unique opportunities to potential foreign and local tour operators in the tourism and leisure segments. In addition, SCTDA also focuses on developing customized individual tourism experiences that cater to personal taste including adventure packages that meet their special interests, further increasing the diversity of tourism experiences in the Emirate.