Milan lands on WeChat
YesMilano opens an official promotion channel for the city in China
Milan, October 16 2019 – Milan is the first Italian city to land on WeChat with its own official account and a Mini Program: YesMilano 探索米兰 will present the city on the most important and popular Chinese messaging app with a monthly user base of over 1 billion people thanks to a investment by the Chamber of Commerce of Milan Monza Brianza Lodi.
The announcement was made today, October 16, in Shanghai during a presentation attended by Teatro alla Scala, FC Internazionale Milano, Camera della Moda and Tencent Group.
YesMilano 探索米兰, a communication channel exclusively in Chinese, represents a great opportunity for Milan. Thanks to this instrument, the city further strengthens the competitiveness of its tourism sector businesses and improves its positioning as an international tourist city in a market, the Chinese one, which by 2030 will represent almost a quarter of global tourism and which is estimated in the next In 5 years it will have a potential of 220 million visitors for Milan. In the last 4 years, thanks also to Expo 2015, the Lombardy capital has already recorded a significant growth rate in terms of tourism: over 10 million tourists visit the city every year and, of these, 9% of international tourists come from right from China.
The Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala declared: "Milan is a city with 26 centuries of history, projected into the future. Ours is an open and international, contemporary city. From this perspective, the initiative implemented by the promotion agency of Milan is strategic for the growth of the city and the local business system. Our goal is to make Chinese visitors discover the soul of our city and at the same time to remember Milan as the most Chinese-friendly city in Italy. Together with the Chamber of Commerce, our commitment on this front is truly high: we are certain that the opening of the YesMilano 探索米兰 account on WeChat will help improve the dialogue with Chinese visitors and make their experience in Milan more complete and exciting ".
The President of the Milan Monza Brianza Lodi Chamber of Commerce Carlo Sangalli declared: “Opening a WeChat account dedicated to Milan is an innovative choice to offer Chinese visitors an effective tool capable of promoting the tourist, cultural and entrepreneurial dimension of Milan. The city, after Expo 2015, has become one of the most interesting destinations internationally. A trend confirmed by the number of our companies that have foreign participation. YesMilano on WeChat is another important step that strengthens the attractiveness of our territory. It is a system operation - carried out together with the Municipality and with the support of Promos Italia - which increases the extraordinary offer of our city towards Chinese tourists and operators, guaranteeing hospitality based on excellent services and an excellent information network. Which is one of the strong points of Milan "World City" and gateway to the Italian system".
Milan will present itself to the Chinese public through two methods: the first is the official, already active account, YesMilano 探索米兰, dedicated to users in China. Inside the official channel there will be all the information capable of making people perceive the enormous potential of the city as a tourist destination. Practical information for staying in the city and itineraries in the area will also be provided through the official account. YesMilano 探索米兰 will be the digital space through which the Milan brand will communicate directly with its Chinese followers, supporting them from organizing their trip to staying in the city.
By the end of 2019, a second way of offering Milan on WeChat will also be launched, through a Mini Program within the official account dedicated to those who are already in Europe or Milan. Thanks to the contents of the Mini Program, the user will be able to better organize their visit to the city based on their interests. In fact, it will be possible to plan your stay by choosing between food and wine, cultural, sporting or shopping itineraries in the world capital of fashion. The application will provide information on services, shops, restaurants, cultural institutions and other points of interest in the city in geolocalized mode, through the simple consultation of an interactive map within the WeChat ecosystem. All this will allow the Chinese visitor to carry out specific searches and better plan their stay in the city.
YesMilano enters the Chinese market thanks to an agreement with the Tencent Group, owner of WeChat, and the technological support of Retex, a company specialized in innovation in the retail world and digital strategy for the Chinese market, Tencent's only Trusted Partner in Europe.
The start up of the project is financed by the Milan Monza Brianza Lodi Chamber of Commerce as part of the activity of YesMilano, the official promotion agency of the Municipality of Milan and the Milanese Chamber of Commerce, and is developed thanks to the support of Promos Italy and Parcam.
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Updated: 16/10/2019