Fujian Tulou(Nanjing) launches an online beauty competition to attract overseas travellers

On Sep.7, 2009, sponsored by Fujian Tulou Tourism Corp based in Nanjing County, Zhangzhou city, the Miss Fujian Tulou(Nanjing) Competition 2009 announces the kick-off of the official launch ceremony held in Xia’men city.

As described, the aim of this event is to increase global destination awareness and brand popularity of Fujian Tulou Tourist Attractions in Nanjing County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites. This creative event is planned and executed by HereisChina.com Co., Ltd, one of the leading destination marketing company’s based in Beijing.

The 3-month campaign of Miss Fujian Tulou (Nanjing) Competition 2009 will go through three phases: Online Votes & Selection, Venue Grand Final and Award Ceremony, Post-event Free China tour.

An expected 500 contestants will register on the official site and upload their photos, write blogs, and receive votes to fight for semi-final of just 50 candidates. The Selected 50 candidates will answer a special online questionnaire with topics focusing on Chinese culture, Chinese travel and information about Fujian Tulou.

Within 2 weeks, the 10 lucky finalists will be revealed and they will be arranged to fly to the host destination – Fujian Tulou in Nanjing. The Grand Final and Award winning ceremony will be held on 19th Nov 2009. The ceremony is in conjunction with a grand concert featuring famous singing stars in China. The finalists will receive a Gift Package, and A Free 10-day China tour covering Tulou in Nanjing, Mount Wuyi, Xiamen & Beijing.

Throughout the pageant, the advanced INTERNET technology and online marketing strategy will be applied while leveraging a diverse range of international media publishers and affiliation networks like Chinadaily.com.cn, Thebeijinger.com, Google Network etc., which aims to facilitate the online booking business, consisting of Fujian Tulou attractions and Zhangzhou as a travel destination. The English version of the offcial destination web site of Fujian Tulou( www.HereisChina.com/FujianTulou/ ) is also launched on the day.

“This event is a main part of our Global Marketing Campaign for Fujian Nanjing Tulou!” Said by Lianduan Zeng, Director of Propaganda Department from Nanjing County Government. “On July 7, 2008, at the 32nd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Conference, Fujian Tulou were officially added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. This paved the way for building a World-level Desination for Fujian Tulou, and for Nanjing. So when it comes to destination marketing for Fujian Tulou, we must have a world-level vision and global strategy. The internet is one of the best platform to spread our brand to overseas tourists.”

Fujian Tulou's have attracted a vast number of tourists since they were included on the World Heritage List last year. The number of tourists soared to 1,368,900 in 2008, compared to 419,700 in 2007 and 390,000 in 2006. Nanjing County will increase tourism investments year by year and will strive to receive up to 1.8 million tourists in 2011, according to Zhonghou Chen, the Secretary of the Nanjing County Party Committee.

About Fujian Tulou in Nanjing

Fujian Tulou is “one of the most extraordinary types of Chinese rural dwelinngs“ of the people in the mountainous areas in Fujian, China.

Nanjng County, located in the northwest of Zhangzhou City, is the hometown of Fujian Tulou. Nanjing is also known as the "Kingdom of Earth Buildings" where there are more than 15,000 Tulous scattered through out Nanjing County including 1300 large-scale Tulous.

On July 7, 2008, at the 32nd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Conference, Fujian Tulou were officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.