Li Chunzhi: Deputy General Manager and Manager of the Korean Department of Hunan New Comfort International Travel Service
Li Chunzhi, male, Korean ethnicity, 43 years old, university education, Deputy General Manager and Manager of the Korean Department of Hunan New Comfort International Travel Service. He was among the earliest pioneers to develop the Korean market in Zhangjiajie. From 1998 to the present, he has participated in creating the "Korean Wave" that has "swept across" Zhangjiajie. In 2005, he did extensive work for the successful launch of charter flights from Changsha to Seoul, South Korea. Meanwhile, Li Chunzhi brought a large group of fellow Korean-ethnic compatriots to Zhangjiajie to start businesses, and Korean-speaking tourism practitioners
Li Chunzhi, male, Korean ethnic group, 43 years old, university educated, deputy general manager and manager of the Korean Department of Hunan New Comfort International Travel Service. He was among the earliest people in Zhangjiajie to develop the Korean market. From 1998 to the present, he has taken part in creating the wave of "Korean fever" that has "covered" Zhangjiajie. In 2005, he did a great deal of work to successfully open the tourist charter flight from Changsha to Seoul, South Korea. At the same time, Li Chunzhi brought a large group of fellow Korean ethnic people to Zhangjiajie to start businesses, and the number of Korean-speaking tourism practitioners grew to more than 1,000, of whom more than 100 were Li Chunzhi's subordinates. Beginning in 2002, the number of Korean visitors to Zhangjiajie increased year by year, stabilizing Zhangjiajie's "Korean fever phenomenon." Li Chunzhi's achievements in opening up the Korean market have been unanimously recognized by all sides. He was hired as an examiner for the provincial Korean national-certificate tour guide exam and took part in interviews for Korean national-certificate tour guide qualifications, and is called Zhangjiajie's "first person to tap and draw in the Korean wave." In 2007, together with Korean businessman Jin Songpei, he donated 300,000 yuan to Mahekou Township Middle School in Sangzhi County to support the school in improving its conditions for running the school. "Korean Fever" Window Li Chunzhi Zhangjiajie Environmental Protection Passenger Transport Red Silk, in order to promote Zhangjiajie scenery, opened a "Zhangjiajie Window" online, broadcasting around the clock. As for Zhangjiajie's Korean fever phenomenon, Li Chunzhi is also a "window." From 1998 to the present, for nearly 10 years, Li Chunzhi has taken part in creating this wave of "Korean fever" that has "covered" Zhangjiajie. He was among the earliest people in Zhangjiajie to develop the Korean market, and is a key, a window, for interpreting Zhangjiajie's Korean fever phenomenon. According to statistics, in 2006 the number of Koreans traveling to Zhangjiajie reached 1.02 million person-times, as many as 400,000 people. Zhangjiajie's Korean fever phenomenon has attracted the attention of people from all sides. In the eyes of out-of-town tourists, Zhangjiajie's strange peaks are remarkable, and the Koreans' special fondness for Zhangjiajie is remarkable enough too. Thus, between "Korean fever" and "Zhangjiajie," they have used words such as "attack," "cover," and even "surprise attack" to express their inner amazement. But a "surprise attack" is lightning-style and one-off, whereas Zhangjiajie's Korean fever phenomenon is indeed solid and stable. Li Chunzhi did not initially work in tourism; he worked in foreign trade, and was once a marketing manager at the Foreign Trade Import and Export Company of Yanbian City, Jilin Province. In 1995, he was engaged in the processing and export trade of chrysanthemum stone in Liuyang, Hunan. Because of business, he arrived in Zhangjiajie in 1998. At that time, in Zhangjiajie City, there were only 5 Korean ethnic people working as attendants in arts and crafts shops. But Korean travel agencies did not understand Zhangjiajie at all. Only a few social organizations such as mountaineering associations, painters associations, and photographers associations had people coming sporadically, and when they came, these few Korean ethnic people would lead the way and serve as temporary tour guides. At that time, it still took a 3-hour drive from Zhangjiajie to Wulingyuan, and there were only two three-star hotels, Jianghan Villa and Guhan Villa. Based on his understanding of Koreans, Li Chunzhi believed that Koreans should very much like Zhangjiajie, and that this market was still blank. Li Chunzhi took advantage of opportunities to travel back and forth to South Korea, bringing Zhangjiajie landscape albums and promotional brochures from travel agencies and hotels to South Korea to find travel agencies for promotion, and spent his own money to organize inspection groups. Within two years, he organized more than ten inspections one after another. These promotional measures initially showed results, and Koreans began to understand Zhangjiajie. In 1999, Li Chunzhi formed the Korean Department at China International Travel Service and formally entered the tourism industry, going all out to open up the Korean market. After nearly ten years of development, Zhangjiajie is now rolling with "Korean fever." Korean-speaking tourism practitioners have grown from the initial 5 people to more than 1,000, among whom more than 100 are Li Chunzhi's subordinates. All Korean ethnic people who go to Zhangjiajie know Li Chunzhi; he is one of the first people to promote Zhangjiajie to South Korea. In order to raise Zhangjiajie's level of tourism reception for Korean visitors, he brought a large group of fellow Korean ethnic people to Zhangjiajie to start businesses. Li Chunzhi's achievements in opening up the Korean market have been unanimously recognized by all sides, and he was hired as an examiner for Hunan Province's Chinese national-certificate tour guides and took part in interviews for Korean national-certificate tour guide qualifications. Provincial Party Committee Secretary Zhang Chunxian highly praised Li Chunzhi's efforts to "draw the Korean wave into Hunan." In 2005, Li Chunzhi successfully operated the tourist charter flight from Changsha to Seoul. Now, Li Chunzhi is working hard on planning and preparing to open, in March next year, a large-scale [route] from Cheongju in Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea, to Zhangjiajie Tourism charter flights. To keep the "Korean Wave" in Zhangjiajie going, his ideal is to open tourism charter flights directly from Seoul to Zhangjiajie. Li Chunzhi, this "digger who draws in the Korean Wave," is a representative and a pacesetter in Zhangjiajie's tourism industry. The "Korean Wave" phenomenon they have drawn out has lifted Zhangjiajie's sightseeing tourism into a golden age. In the current period of transformational development, as Zhangjiajie's tourism industry improves quality and upgrades, they have more room to realize their ambitions.
Source & reference
Source：Zhangjiajie Tour Guide