A group of 15 travel industry leaders from the Chinese municipality of Chongqing will arrive in Sydney for a promotional exercise organised by the  Chongqing Tourism Administration Australian marketing representative, Wendy Wu Tours.

The leader of the group Mr Yiqing Chen, the deputy director of the Chongqing Tourism Administration, says he is targeting an increase of between 20 and 30 per cent on the 60,000 Australians who visited the city last year.

Chongqing, a city of 33-million people, is the major stepping off point for the wide range of cruise voyages travelling along the Yangtze River.

The delegation will meet an array of Australian Government officials, travel trade leaders, agents and the local media at a function in Sydney on Thursday, December 6.

It is the Administration’s second visit to Australia this year and it will target a much wider cross-section of Australian people than previously.

The group will spend four three days in Sydney and then visit New Zealand.

Along with local representatives of the Chinese National Tourist Office, the group will promote the ancient city’s tourist infrastructure, the culture and history of the city and its attractions, such as the Dazu rock carvings, the National Heritage Wulong Karst landform and the region’s unique hot springs.

Wendy Wu Tours managing director, Alan Alcock said that visitor numbers to Chongqing could reach 70,000 this year and would be enhanced by his company’s increased promotion of the city.