In their spare time, Canton Fair merchants walked into the Guangzhou Museum to visit.
Canton Fair merchants experience the ancient style of "Ten Elegance" in Guangzhou Orchid Garden.
An open city facilitates Guangzhou's cultural tourism
40 one-day special tourist routes, nearly 100 literary and artistic performances to send a "cultural feast"
40 star-rated hotels provide "Canton Fair" certification services
24-hour "Cantonese service" to welcome visitors from all over the world
Guangzhou will hold nearly 100 performances of fine theatrical performances, launch 40 one-day special tourist routes, and deliver "cultural feasts" anytime and anywhere; 40 star-rated hotels will provide "Canton Fair" certification services, and many hotels will set up free shuttle buses to protect the "golden signboard" with Cantonese services...... During this year's Canton Fair, Guangzhou's cultural and tourism industry has launched a variety of "pet fans" actions to welcome customers, so that the participating Canton Fair merchants can not only enjoy the warmth of being at home in Yangcheng, but also successfully achieve business business.
Convenient！
Cantonese service guards the "golden signboard"
As an important window for the reception of Canton Fair merchants, major hotels in Guangzhou have started in advance and actively welcomed the Canton Fair. According to data from Ctrip Digital Intelligence Hotel, during the first phase of the "Canton Fair" (April 15-April 19), the average hotel search popularity in Guangzhou increased by 33% compared with the same period in 2023 and 62% from the previous week. Qunar data shows that during this Canton Fair, the number of hotel bookings in Guangzhou increased by more than two percent year-on-year in 2023.
The White Swan Hotel said that the overall booking situation of the 135th Canton Fair is ideal, and the first phase of the Canton Fair is close to full, and the second phase of the room reservation is close to ninety. A number of hotels revealed that the proportion of guests from Asian, American and Oceanian countries has increased significantly, and European merchants have also increased. About 80 percent of the foreign guests staying at the InterContinental Guangzhou Hotel are staying at the Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou, and the proportion of foreign guests booking rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou is expected to account for 70 percent, which is an increase from last year's Spring Fair.
In March this year, the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Service Guarantee of Travel Agencies and Star-rated Hotels during the 135th Canton Fair", requiring travel agencies and star-rated hotels to take the "Canton Fair" as Guangzhou's golden signboard.
In order to facilitate the needs of participating merchants, the Guangzhou Hotel Industry Association coordinated 40 star-rated hotels to set up "Canton Fair" certification points, and Baiyun Hotel also increased night certification services this year. This service is expected to reduce the waiting time from 1.5 hours to 30 minutes during peak periods.
Every morning, buses shuttle between the hotel and Pazhou Complex to transport exhibitors and buyers to the Canton Fair site. Poly InterContinental Guangzhou, Guangzhou Garden Hotel, Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou, Pazhou Lingnan Oriental Hotel and many other hotels have specially opened free shuttle buses. Various language services also provide convenience for foreign buyers. For example, the Garden Hotel Guangzhou offers more than 11 multilingual services, and the Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou offers English, Italian, French, Japanese and other languages.
During this Canton Fair, Guangzhou's major hotels strive to improve various facilitation services, in addition to providing 24-hour online "Cantonese service", it is also a very important task to expand the payment convenience channels for foreign visitors to Guangzhou. When visiting major hotels, Nandu reporters saw that many star-rated hotels have eye-catching credit card payment signs at the front desk, restaurant cashier and other locations, and some hotels also have ATMs or foreign currency exchange machines. Foreign currency exchange can be done directly at the front desk of InterContinental Guangzhou. "We also promote the online payment mode to overseas customers through the distribution of leaflets and other forms to understand the online payment opening process. Guo Zixin, director of marketing and communication of the hotel, said.
Interesting！
Experience the "Cultural Feast" anytime, anywhere
One of the new highlights of this year's Canton Fair hotel reception is the integration of various local cultural experiences into hotel services to increase the immersion of guests.
"We'd take these two cutouts home and frame them. Ms. Deng and Mr. Ericksom from the United States sat down to ask the Guangdong paper-cutting master to take a portrait of the two after watching the Sichuan Opera change their faces at the White Swan Hotel. "This silhouette is so beautiful, even the details of the hair are in place, and the traditional Chinese intangible cultural heritage is really breathtaking. Ms. Deng said in an interview with the media.
"After the end of the day's exhibition, Canton Fair merchants can go outdoors to enjoy barbecue and other catering services and relax. Guo Zixin revealed that the hotel will arrange some performances with traditional Chinese cultural characteristics every day, such as Cantonese opera, drum and water sleeve dance, cheongsam group fan, folk orchestra and solo dance performances, to provide guests with an immersive cultural experience. "Seeing that the performances are different every day, many foreign guests expressed their surprise. InterContinental Guangzhou has also prepared a welcome gift package for Canton Fair merchants, which contains a customized room card with Lingnan characteristics, which can be taken away as a souvenir.
Two days before each trade fair, Baiyun Hotel conducts Cantonese opera, ancient music performances to enliven the atmosphere and interact with traditional Chinese style games during the peak time when guests return to the museum. In the lobby of the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou, there are lucky candies sent by the "God of Wealth" and wonderful performances for guests to watch, such as Cantonese opera, Sichuan opera face changing, enthusiastic samba and so on. Langham Place Nanfeng Guangzhou has set up an intangible cultural heritage art booth in the lobby for guests to have an in-depth understanding of intangible cultural heritage in their leisure time.
During the Canton Fair, Guangzhou's cultural tourism and performing arts circles also gave "big gifts", allowing merchants from all over the world to experience the "cultural feast" anytime and anywhere. "Chinese War Dance" kicked off the Canton Fair, and the Guangzhou Art Season was staged as scheduled, with excellent repertoire appearing one after another. A number of professional theaters in Guangzhou stage operas, dramas, dance dramas, concerts, acrobatics, Cantonese opera, musicals and other cultural and artistic activities, and hold a series of themed activities such as art salons, exhibition lectures, and stage tours.
Guangzhou has launched 40 one-day special tourism routes, including Guangzhou Rural Ecological Tour, Guangzhou Cultural and Historical Tour, Guangzhou Red Heritage Tour, Guangzhou Food Enjoyment Tour, Guangzhou Health and Leisure Tour, Guangzhou Modern City Tour, Guangzhou Classic Panorama Tour, and Guangzhou Parent-Child Amusement Tour. In addition, the city's A-level tourist attractions, star-rated hotels, and travel agencies have launched exclusive special products and preferential measures for "Canton Fair" exhibitors, such as Chimelong, Canton Tower and other tourist attractions to exhibitors with exhibition certificates, and give discounts and other discounts to exhibitors.
"We continue to optimize the experience of purchasing tickets and entering the park, and the paid A-level tourist attractions have retained manual windows to provide offline ticket purchase and foreign language shopping guide services for tourists, including inbound tourists. Xu Ying, a researcher at the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, said.
Amazing！
In Yuexiu, you can taste the culture of Cantonese for thousands of years
On April 17, Zhenhai Building, which has a history of more than 600 years, welcomed more than 60 special guests, who were overseas buyers of the 135th Canton Fair.
At the Guangzhou Museum, Alex, an Australian merchant, couldn't help but raise his camera to take pictures when he saw the "best-selling products" of Guangzhou's foreign trade at that time, such as export heraldic porcelain plates and Guangcai character pattern bowls in the Ming and Qing dynasties. "Amazing!" he said, showing their ingenuity and creativity by being able to make such beautiful crafts by hand thousands of years ago. "This is my first time at the Guangzhou Museum, and I would like to bring my friends with me in the future. Guangzhou's history and culture are amazing, and it is very inspiring to be able to come to this historical and cultural city, which can be traced back to the culture created by the ancients many years ago. ”
"I was invited by my business partner to come to Guangzhou this time, and I found it to be very friendly and efficient. Guangzhou is one of the most modern cities I know of. Alex said.
During the Canton Fair, the series of activities of the "Orchid Blossom and Yuexiu" Cultural Tourism Week created the "Ten Elegance" ancient style and elegance in Guangzhou Orchid, using flowers as a medium to inherit excellent traditional culture. Along the way, the merchants felt the ancient style of "ten elegances" such as flowers, incense, tea, listening to the rain, playing the qin, playing games, drinking wine, reading, waiting for the moon, and seeking seclusion. Many overseas buyers have also learned intangible cultural heritage skills such as guqin, tea art, and grass painting from intangible cultural heritage inheritors.
Lucas from Brazil followed 20 people to China to seek business opportunities at the Canton Fair. "This is my fourth time in China, but a lot of people in our team are coming to China for the first time, so they are very happy. He said that when he visited the Guangzhou Museum, what impressed him the most was the roots that China has always maintained. Chinese civilization has a long history and is unified.
"I know a lot about the history of Guangzhou, which is a bridge for the rest of the world to understand China and show the world an open China. I also often share our pleasant experiences in China with friends and family and invite them to come to China. Lucas said that China is becoming more and more open to foreigners, and this time he came to the Canton Fair, he can clearly feel that it has become easier to enter and exit.
"When I make a purchase, I use internet payment methods like Alipay and WeChat, but when I make a business transaction, I use a bank transfer. In his opinion, the payment method for shopping in China has become more convenient. "These platforms are free and open to everyone, which is very good!"