STORY: Madrid resumes 83 pct of direct flights to China
DATELINE: July 14, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:36
LOCATION: Madrid
CATEGORY: OTHERS

SHOTLIST:
1. various shots of Madrid and tourists
2. Hebei event in Madrid
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): ALMUDENA MAILLO, Delegate councilor for Tourism of the Madrid City Council
4. various shots of meeting between Madrid and Hebei province governments
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): ALMUDENA MAILLO, Delegate councilor for Tourism of the Madrid City Council
6. Chinese tourists in Madrid
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): ZHAI YUHU, Vice Director of Culture and Tourism, Government of Hebei Province
8. Gift-giving ceremony

STORYLINE:

Eighty-three percent of the direct flights that had connected Spain's capital Madrid with China's major cities before the COVID-19 pandemic have already been resumed, Madrid City Council's Tourism Department said on Thursday.

At a cultural and tourist interchange event co-organized in Madrid by the department and China's Hebei Province, Almudena Maillo, Madrid City's councilor responsible for tourism, said that the department is working hard to fully restore air connectivity with China. A full resumption is expected by 2024.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): ALMUDENA MAILLO, Delegate councilor for Tourism of the Madrid City Council
"Chinese tourists are of strategic importance to us. They are who we want to take care of and who we have to know how to treat. That is why we are working hard with Madrid's own tourism sector to improve their experience in terms of barriers, such as language or means of payment."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): ALMUDENA MAILLO, Delegate councilor for Tourism of the Madrid City Council
"We have a special Asia Plan that aims to help us improve and promote our services."

Currently, direct flights connect four Chinese cities with Madrid: Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Maillo said Hangzhou will be added to this list in August.

A culture and tourism official in Hebei said that his province "welcomes friends from all over the world to boost tourism or to invest in this industry."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): ZHAI YUHU, Vice Director of Culture and Tourism, Government of Hebei Province
"China and Spain are both ancient civilizations, both have abundant tourism resources and are important markets, whether as a tourism destination or as an origin of tourists."

China is a key tourism market for Madrid. According to the department, Chinese visitors spend over five days in the city on average and spend around 370 euros (415 U.S. dollars) there per day.

Xinhua News Agency correspondent reporting from Madrid.
(XHTV)