Promoting 2017 being the year of China-Australia tourism began in earnest on Thursday after Shanghai's tourism body arrived in Sydney.
Australia has consistently been on Shanghai's top 10 destinations for visitors in recent years, and now 1 million Chinese tourists visit the land each year. However, Australian visitors to China still lag.
Kicking off in Sydney's World Square, the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration unveiled their "Our Shanghai" promotional video and new policies to encourage two-way tourism. Australians will be eligible for a 144-hour visa free entry for transit passengers and new tax refund policies.
"The tourism campaign in Australia is dedicated to levelling up tourism cooperation between Shanghai and Australia, and to promoting Shanghai to potential tourists in Australia," the delegation said in a statement to Xinhua on Thursday.
"This unprecedented promotional video provides better experience and sense of immersion, and therefore drives inspiration and urgency to visit Shanghai."
The promotional tour will end with a "Night for Shanghai" gala dinner at the New South Wales parliament house on Saturday, where guests will be introduced to Shanghai from an outsider's angle to arouse the cultural and emotional resonance.
