China, New Zealand to celebrate 2019 as Tourism Year
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
China and New Zealand is to jointly celebrate year 2019 as the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism. As the first step towards the eventful year to come, a new website is launched and initiated funding for a major exhibition at the national museum.
“With the new website, we have provided a platform for organizations to get involved with the 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism, whether it is by promoting events, or accessing resources and useful information on the China visitor market,” said Kelvin Davis, Tourism Minister of New Zealand.
The concept of tourism year with China aims at exploring opportunities in the tourism sector of China, which is the second largest nation for inbound tourists in New Zealand, with Australia in the first place.
New Zealand tourism ministry tries to focus on building a cultural understanding with China and work together to attract more tourists to the country irrespective of the seasons.
The government will invest USD 340,857 through the Major Events Development Fund in the national museum’s Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality exhibition. The China-New Zealand Year of Tourism will kick start with the inauguration of the exhibition on 15th December 2018 and will conclude on 22nd April, 2019.
Terracotta Warriors being excavated
The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.
Terracotta Army Chariot
A collection of 2300-year-old Terracotta Warriors from China will be displayed at the exhibition.
The web site launched for the China-New Zealand Tourism Year is www.cnzyot.govt.nz.