polishing the “peru business card” with the help of china’s experience: the mayor of machu picchu’s trip to the china trade in services fair
2024-09-16
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xinhua news agency, beijing, september 16 title: polishing the “peru business card” with the help of china’s experience: the mayor of machu picchu’s trip to the china trade in services fair
xinhua news agency reporters zhao xinhu and wu meng
on the stage, officials and experts from the tourism industry of various countries around the world discussed the current development trend of the tourism economy. during the dinner, people came up to elvis lessing latorre from time to time and wanted to add him on wechat. elvis responded enthusiastically.
after the event, elvis added 8 new wechat friends. “these may be opportunities for communication and cooperation,” he said.
elvis, the mayor of machu picchu, peru, recently came to beijing to attend the 2024 world tourism cooperation and development conference held during the 2024 china international fair for trade in services. at the conference, he held talks with mayors of many countries and shared the tourism development experiences of their respective countries and cities.
this is his third visit to china. last year and in may this year, elvis went to changsha, hunan and chongqing respectively to participate in the global tourism theme forum, sign relevant agreements on cultural and tourism cooperation between international friendly cities, and learn about how various parts of china protect, inherit and develop cultural and tourism resources.
in june 2023, a large-scale exhibition co-organized by the shaanxi provincial cultural relics bureau and the ministry of culture of the republic of peru was held at the shaanxi history museum. photo by xinhua news agency reporter li yibo
the reason why he attaches so much importance to the development of cultural tourism in china is that the city managed by elvis is also a shining pearl in the long history of south america. he said: "peru and china are both countries that inherit ancient and splendid civilizations and have invaluable civilization achievements and historical relics. i want to learn from china's experience in protecting and developing historical and cultural heritage."
machu picchu is located on the andes ridge in south america. it has important relics of the inca civilization, one of the three major civilizations in the americas. its ancient temples are listed as a dual cultural and natural heritage of the world. in recent years, with the increasingly close cultural exchanges between china and latin america, this well-known ancient civilization city in peru has become popular on chinese social networks and is often listed in the "best travel destinations in south america" and other lists selected by netizens.
in elvis's view, the services trade fair is a good opportunity to promote machu picchu, and this large-scale exchange and cooperation platform can attract tourists from all over the world. "we very much welcome chinese people to travel to peru to appreciate the unique natural and cultural landscapes there and experience the wonderful collision between the two ancient civilizations."
in the past two days, elvis has been busy in beijing. he attended a special training on inbound tourism in china, and learned about the policy measures to facilitate foreigners to travel to china in terms of entry visas, online payments, flight services, etc.; immersed in the fragrance of tea and intoxicated by folk music, he learned how china creates cultural performances that combine traditional art with modern technology; and visited the forbidden city, focusing on the technology used by china to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage.
"i noticed that the materials used in the protection facilities for the ancient steps of the forbidden city are very advanced, while we are still using wooden devices. this shows china's professionalism and care in the details of cultural relics protection." the forbidden city receives far more tourists than machu picchu, but its management is well organized, which impressed elvis.
elvis said that the important purpose of this trip is to pass on china's experience in tourism resource management and cutting-edge cultural relics protection technology to the peruvian cultural department, and apply it to the protection and development of historical sites such as the machu picchu ruins, promote local tourism development, and use china's experience to create a "peru business card."
in recent years, driven by the comprehensive strategic partnership between china and peru, cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two countries have become more in-depth and practical. since 2021, the peruvian inca civilization exhibition has been unveiled in museums in beijing, chengdu, guangzhou and other places; in may this year, peru announced that february 1 of each year will be designated as "peru-china friendship day".
elvis has 19 chinese friends on wechat, and he keeps in touch with three of them on a daily basis to coordinate the cooperation needs between machu picchu and other parts of china. as soon as the services trade fair is over, he will fly to chengdu, sichuan, to sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation involving culture, tourism, education and technology.
"through this agreement, young people will have the opportunity to travel and study in china, improve themselves through cultural exchanges, and develop machu picchu after returning," he said.
this is a drone photo of the machu picchu road tunnel project built by china railway tunnel engineering group co., ltd. and the cliffs next to it, taken in the cusco region of peru on june 23. photo by xinhua news agency reporter li muzi
in fact, china has already played a role in promoting the development of machu picchu's cultural undertakings. recently, the first road tunnel in peru leading to machu picchu, built by a chinese company, has been fully opened, further shortening the travel time and improving safety. it is expected that the number of daily travelers will double to nearly 2,000.
"more than 90% of foreign tourists coming to peru want to explore machu picchu, but due to severe road conditions, the number of people who actually arrive is reduced." elvis said that this new route has shortened the physical and psychological distance between tourists and machu picchu.
after returning to beijing from chengdu, he will also sign an agreement with a chinese automobile company to purchase two new energy electric buses to protect the fragile natural environment around the site. "if electric buses can adapt to the complex terrain of machu picchu, we will replace all existing fuel buses with chinese brands."
elvis said that peru and china are separated by an ocean, and it takes nearly 30 hours to travel there, so he must make full use of his time in china and try to "pack up" as many collaborations as possible.
