UK targets Chinese for post-Olympic tourism

LONDON -- Britain launched a worldwide campaign to promote post-Olympic tourism on Tuesday, with high expectations for the Chinese market.

The strategy was set out by Jeremy Hunt, Britain's Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, as a renewed drive to create a lasting tourism legacy from the success of London 2012.

It includes an 8 million pounds ($12.54 million) marketing campaign aiming to triple the number of Chinese tourists, another 2 million pounds to boost domestic tourism marketing, more domestic package breaks and plans to boost sport tourism and cultural tourism.

In total, the campaign will target nine countries worldwide, with adverts appearing in 14 key cities: Beijing, Berlin, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Mumbai, New Delhi, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto. Around 70 percent of the population in each of the target cities are expected to see the advertising on billboards, TV, or in the cinema.

The 8 million pounds campaign, with a strong focus on China, has the potential to generate more than 500 million pounds in extra visitor spend and create more than 14,000 new jobs.

"We must use this extraordinary year to turbo-charge our tourism industry, to create jobs and prosperity on the back of a globally-enhanced reputation," the cultural secretary said in a speech to tourism leaders.