Among other destinations, they visited our city in order to get to know the territory and look for business opportunities in the field of sports.
On July 21st, Mr. Tongsheng Tian and Mr. Chun Chang, co-founder and CEO of the Chinese company Runnar, respectively, visited Calella through a trip organized by different cities in the country. The directors of this leading company in sports tourism in China were in Calella with the aim of getting to know the city and establishing links for possible collaborations.
The Tourist Board of the Calella City Council organized a visit to the town, including the various sports facilities, such as the Crol Center, the “La Muntanyeta” sports area and the Football Field by the sea. All the visits were aimed at raising awareness of the possibilities offered by Calella as a leading destination in sports tourism.
Mr. Tian Tongsheng – one of the main drivers of the rise of marathons and sports in China – is the first Chinese runner in more than 60 years to complete the “grand slam” of marathons, including the ones in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, New York and also the Barcelona marathon He started running when he was 55 (he is currently 65) and to date has completed more than 100 marathons.
China is currently experiencing a rapid increase in the popularity of marathons. During 2017, more than 1,000 marathons were held in China (including whole and half marathons), with the participation of more than 10 million runners. Towards 2020 it is planned to double these figures. In recent years, sports in China have become a booming market. Between 2009 and 2014, participation in marathon races in China grew by 259.47%.
The visit of the Chinese businessmen of the company Runnar in Calella is closely linked to the actions of promotion of the city that are being carried out towards the Asian market, which in recent years have included: the visit of the Mayor of Calella, Montserrat Candini, at the World Tourism Cities Forum (2016), the visit of a delegation of Chinese television interested in the development of IRONMAN 70.3 (May 2017) and the participation of a group of Chinese triathletes in the IRONMAN event of October 2017.