Contest promoting Bodrum in China

MUĞLA - Anatolia News Agency

Chinese website has launched a competition to promote Bodrum, which is a major draws for tourists. AA photo

A Chinese website has launched a competition to promote Bodrum, which draws millions of tourists to its south Aegean beaches each year, as a tourist destination for Chinese holiday-makers.

The winners, 10 couples, will come to Bodrum, and video of the their experiences will be put online to promote Bodrum to the Chinese tourist market.

This year is the “Year of Chinese Culture” in Turkey, while next year will be the “Year of Turkish culture” in China, Kamil Özer, the head of the Muğla Culture and Tourism Directorate, told Anatolia news agency. The project encourages social, cultural, tourism exchanges and advertising campaigns between the two countries.

“It is a project combining the two countries’ foreign politics and tourism politics. A series of events have been organized as part of the project. Two activities were carried out in Muğla and Bodrum. We would like to participate in the activities in China next year as well, and the chambers, foundations and tourism managers have committed to joining in the activities as well,” Özer said.

“This competition began with a TV series about a love story. People who watched the TV series uploaded video depicting their own love stories to the website,” said Laya Suo, the head of the advertising company in China that is sponsoring the contest.

Each episode of the competition aired on the website was watched by 1 million people, and followers of the competition voted for their favorite scenes. The 10 couples receiving the most votes will win a vacation or honeymoon in Bodrum.

“Cameramen will accompany the couples to Bodrum to film their experiences there, and these will be broadcast on the Internet, introducing the Chinese public to the historical, touristic and natural beauties of Bodrum,” Suo said.