Chinese province looks to bolster tourism cooperation with Cuba

HAVANA — China's southeastern province Fujian hosted a tourism promotion event here on Monday to present its natural and cultural attractions to Cuban tour operators and boost tourism cooperation with Cuba.

As part of the presentation, some of the top tourist destinations in the province were showcased. Fujian is home to four UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites.

"We want more Cubans to know about Fujian, its beautiful mountains and rivers, and its deep culture," Luo Qiuyun, deputy director of the general office of the Fujian Provincial Tourism Bureau, told Xinhua.

Fujian, recognized as the start of the ancient Maritime Silk Route, is one of the fastest developing territories in China.

It is known for Mount Wuyi, earthen buildings or Tulou, the historic international settlement of Kulangsu and tea.

"Fujian tea is well known and we have it here today for everyone to taste too," Luo said.

"Fujian and Cuba are emerging tourism markets and we attach great importance to tourism cooperation with Cuba. We want to introduce and promote in Cuba some of the unique tourism resources that Fujian has," he added.

Fuzhou, the provincial capital, is a transportation hub for destinations such as the city of Quanzhou and the city of Xiamen which recently hosted the BRICS Summit.

Tania San Pedro, from the communications department of Cuba's Ministry of Tourism (Mintur), said Cuba is very interested in strengthening exchanges with China in all areas, as the country represents a very important market in the world.

"We have a lot of interest in all the exchanges that can be carried out with China," she said.

Mintur has supported all the work done by Air China in Cuba since its arrival in December 2015, San Pedro said.

"Mintur has also been participating in tourism fairs in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, and we are very happy with this type of exchanges as it contributes to greater cultural and tourism cooperation between our countries," she added.

Cuban tour companies such as ECOTUR, Cubatur, Solways and others took part in the event.