Parques de Sintra Monte da Lua, located in central Portugal, recently joined the UNESCO project ‘World Heritage Journey’ in an effort to reach more Chinese tourists.
Home to Pena Palace and Moorish Castle, the region has long been a go-to destination for European travellers, and organizers hope the initiative, achieved in collaboration with National Geographic to promote sustainable tourism within the European Union, will increase awareness amongst the estimated six million Chinese annual tourists to western Europe.
A Chinese-language website invites globetrotters to explore four cultural heritage itineraries; Royal Europe, Ancient Europe, Romantic Europe, and Underground Europe. Users have access to practical trip-planning information and local knowledge that explains the cultural heritage of each destination.
Chinese visitors can find Mandarin-language guidebooks at souvenir shops throughout the Sintra region. Local authorities hope to provide Mandarin-language maps and audio guides in the near future.
World Heritage Journeys played a key role in attracting Chinese visitors to Europe for the 2018 EU/China Tourism Year, an initiative led by the European Commission and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, and European Travel Commission (ETC). The initiative reported a 5.1% increase in Chinese arrivals to EU destinations last year.
For details, go to parquesdesintra.pt.
