“The marvelous sceneries appeared in Pandora were originated from Zhangjiajie in China! Such a wonder!” On September 4, at the Hunan Zhangjiajie booth of the Malaysian International Travel Mart, Kuala Lumpur resident Rob Bakar stopped in his tracks, leafed through the scenic brochure of Wulingyuan, the core scenic area of Zhangjiajie, with great interest, and exclaimed again and again.
Travel mart opens in Kuala Lumpur
On that day, the Malaysian International Travel Mart (MATTA FAIR) opened at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur. At the Zhangjiajie booth, numerous exhibitors from various countries and local residents stopped by, showing exceptional favor for the magical and extraordinary tourism feast brought by Zhangjiajie: “beautiful, beautiful!”
The author observed on site that the spacious Zhangjiajie booth was crowded from the moment it opened—people stopping to enjoy the promotional videos, picking up materials, posing for photos… The staff of the Wulingyuan District promotion team on site were kept extremely busy. The Chinese-English editions of Zhangjiajie scenery albums, promotional posters, scenic spot introductions, and promotional videos were especially popular; in just half a day, nearly five thousand copies of materials were distributed. Many Malaysian residents visiting the exhibition said: “We knew about Avatar before, and now we know about Zhangjiajie. Not going to Zhangjiajie would truly be a regret.”
Wulingyuan promotes core scenic area products
At this Malaysian International Travel Mart, the People's Government of Wulingyuan District, Zhangjiajie City, focused on promoting the tourism products of Wulingyuan, the core scenic area of Zhangjiajie, a World Natural Heritage site and World Geopark, with emphasis on tourism brands such as “Pandora is too far, Zhangjiajie is very close” and “The Boundary of the World” Zhangjiajie, as well as multiple premium tourism routes including World Natural Heritage tours, folk custom tours, health and leisure tours, and outdoor sports tours.
Wan Qikun, Deputy Head of Wulingyuan District, said in an interview with foreign media that Zhangjiajie is a rare place in the world rich in tourism resources. In 2007, the renowned British journalist and geologist Simon Winchester wrote in The New York Times praising that “Zhangjiajie is as great as the Great Wall.” The stone peaks resembling skyscrapers are the most unusual geographical, biological and ecological wonders existing on our planet. At the same time, Zhangjiajie's forest coverage rate is more than twice the world's forest coverage rate of 34%. In the air of Wulingyuan, the core scenic area of Zhangjiajie, the average content of negative oxygen ions reaches as high as 100,000 per cubic centimeter, dozens to hundreds of times that of ordinary cities. In 2014, Zhangjiajie received nearly 40 million domestic and foreign tourists, with total tourism revenue of 24.9 billion yuan, and welcomed guests from 52 countries and regions around the world.
Scenic area enterprises showcase resources and facilities
At the booth, representatives of scenic area enterprises such as Zhangjiajie Tourism Group, Huanglong Cave, Bailong Elevator, Tianzi Mountain Cableway, and Zhangjiajie World Geopark Museum also showcased the resource conditions and reception facilities of various scenic areas through multiple means, and sincerely invited more foreign tourists, including those from Malaysia, to Zhangjiajie to experience the real “Avatar” wonderland.
It is reported that the Zhangjiajie booth at this Malaysian International Travel Mart was the only domestic booth.