Over the past year Visa has supported an initiative between the United States and China to promote tourism, trade and people-to-people exchange between the two countries. The 2016 U.S.-China Tourism Year kicked off in Beijing, where U.S. Olympians and Team Visa athletes Meryl Davis and Charlie White led hundreds of U.S. visitors in a climb of the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall.
Throughout the year Visa applied its brand and marketing expertise to spark enthusiasm for travel between the two countries. A special content series produced by Quartz and sponsored by Visa featured off-the-beaten-path China, including the interactive piece “Explore five of China's most far-flung cities.” A social media campaign featured the work of China-based Instagram photographers, inviting followers to “See China from the Inside.” The Instagram campaign alone reached more than 10 million unique users resulting in six thousand visits to China’s tourism page.
Visa was honored to collaborate with the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) in this year-long effort as part of Visa’s ongoing commitment to China, one of the world’s largest and most dynamic payments markets. The CNTA celebrated the end of the initiative at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C. just last month. Leaders from both countries, including the Chinese Vice Premier and U.S. Secretary of Commerce, enjoyed a side-by-side performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the National Performing Arts Orchestra of China. Visa also co-hosted the “Beautiful China Night” with the CNTA at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C., where leaders from both teams came together to celebrate the year’s success.
