Movie and TV town in Ningbo taps into global tourism market

Japanese tourists dress up in traditional Chinese costumes during a tour of Xiangshan Movie & TV Town in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn] 

Xiangshan Movie & TV Town, an outdoor film studio in Xiangshan county in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, recently received its first group of Japanese movie fans, a further step taken by the studio in tapping into the global tourism market.

The 20 Japanese tourists are fans of the China-Japan co-produced movie Kingdom which was released in Japan in April and has become a blockbuster. Some of the movie scenes were shot in the studio. 

Grasping the opportunity, the studio released a travel plan with Spring Airlines and a Japanese travel agency to encourage Japanese movie fans to come for a visit.

"We will further cultural and tourism cooperation with Japan by coordinating with filmmakers, movie fans and scenic spots," said a studio spokesman.

This is not the first time the studio has taken advantage of hot movies and TV series to attract overseas tourists.

Earlier in 2016, when the hit Chinese costume play Nirvana in Fire gained huge popularity in South Korea, the studio – being also one of the play's shooting locations – launched a related travel program to attract South Korean fans. 

The studio also established a department for international development at the beginning of the year and brought in professionals from Hollywood in order to attract more overseas filmmakers and directors.