Off the wire
• Cameroonian gov't destroys big stock of ivories in public  • Two people survive helicopter crash in Namibia  • Israel arrests 33 Palestinians in West Bank, East Jerusalem, demolishes house  • Africa Economy: S. African rand gains value  • Sri Lanka to announce amnesty period to hand over illegal firearms  • German gov't keeps 2016 growth forecast at 1.7 percent  • Irish gov't deficit falls to 2.3 pct of GDP in 2015  • NATO chief says talks with Russia "frank and serious"  • Premier Li stresses support for foreign trade  • Int'l organizations activate humanitarian aid plans after Ecuador earthquake  
You are here: 　 Home

Portugal harnessing potential of social networks to attract Chinese tourists

Xinhua, April 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Portugal is harnessing the potential of social networks in attracting Chinese tourists, Portuguese Lusa News Agency said Wednesday.

The Chinese application WeChat has around 698 million users, showing just how much it is affecting all aspects of Chinese life, the report noted.

Lusa Filipe Silva, from Tourism of Portugal, told Lusa that the application signals a radical change.

"The Chinese consumer has a huge tendency to use social networks and new technology. Portuguese companies have to be prepared for this challenge," he said, adding that Chinese tourists are not the same as ten years ago.

Tourism of Portugal has now begun circulating promotional material on Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo, which has more than 230 million users.

Last year, the agency said around 154,000 Chinese visitors came to Portugal, a rise of 36 percent compared with 2014, and spent around 60 million euros (68.2 million U.S. dollars). Endit