Denmark has signed a historic agreement with Chinese travel site Dianping, becoming the first European nation to appear on the Chinese product reviews and group-buying platform.
Dianping is China's leading Online2Offline platform, offering merchant information, consumer reviews, group-buying, ecoupon promotions, covering a broad range of consumer services and activities.
It became an active player in the travel sector through a merger with Meituan in October 2015.
CPH Post reports that Danish foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen, signed the agreement with Dianping while visiting China this week.
"We are the first nation in Europe—and one of the first in the world—to gain access to the travel portal, which is used by 300 million Chinese people. "Many Chinese probably don’t know us as a travel destination, so it’s imperative that we get the opportunity to brand Denmark as a tourism nation on the portal."
Samuelsen travelled to China on a mission to promote travel between China and Denmark, as part of the 2017 Danish-Chinese Tourism Year program, a first-of-its-kind tourism initiative between China and a European country.
He adds:
"There is little doubt that the launch of the tourism year has been essential to landing the Dianping agreement."
Tourism Year activities include a number of special events including Denmark Days coordinated in China, and a China Day tourism conference which will take place in Copenhagen.
Industry Minister Brian Mikkelsen set off on his own visit to China this February, where he meet with Li Jinzao, head of China National Tourism Administration, to mark the launch of the 2017 Danish-Chinese Tourism Year activities. He says:
"The number of Chinese who travel on holiday abroad has increased dramatically in recent years. If we can get lure just a fraction more of the outgoing Chinese to Denmark, it has great importance for the growth in Danish tourism. "Therefore, it is a great opportunity for Denmark that we now have a Danish-Chinese Tourism Year."
Denmark hopes to attract young single Chinese travellers, as well as 40-60 year-olds travelling individually or as part of a group, with a special focus on cultural tourists, families travelling with children, business tourism and incentive travel.
VisitDenmark hopes 2017 Danish-Chinese Tourism Year will increase the number of nights Chinese visitors spend in Denmark by 25% by 2018, when compared to 2016, and the number of days Chinese tourists spend in Denmark from 1.5 days to 2 days.
The Danish tourism board has set up a dedicated VisitDenmark website in Chinese to serve as a visitors guide. VisitDenmark also collaborated with DiDi Rental on a competition encouraging Chinese campaign participants to create themed itineraries including Danish fairytale, Danish food, and Danish design.
The imaginative destinations campaign is being promoted through the DiDi App, Didi, as well as VisitDenmark’s social media channels, including WeChat and Weibo, and on multiple traditional media channels.
Denmark is also working with Alibaba to establish a Danish presence on Alibaba's travel services platform, Fliggy.