The 2008 Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival raises its curtain with a grand opening ceremony today in Guangzhou and will continue through next Thursday.

Jointly¹ sponsored by the National Tourism Administration and the Guangdong provincial² government, the event seeks to fully³ display Guangdong's rich tourism and cultural resources by including 14 other cities in the province as sub-venues, organizers said.

A series of activities will be held in the main venue⁴ Guangzhou during the event, including a tourism promotional conference, a travel exposition, a parade of floats, a folk art performance in the area to the south of the Nanling mountains, a gala evening for sister cities, a Guangdong tour designed for overseas Chinese and a summit forum⁶ on tourism development.

An online version of the festival has also been launched.

Highlighted by the concurrent⁷ Pan-Pearl River Delta⁸ Tourism Promotion⁵ Convention, the festival is expected to spur growth of regional tourism, organizers added.

Activities in other cities include a beach music party in Zhuhai, a mountaineering festival in Shantou, a folk customs and lantern festival celebrating harvest and the Olympic Games in Foshan, a competition for the best travel route in Shaoguan, tours of Hakka culture and food in Heyuan, an international seaside festival in Huizhou, a tour guide contest in Zhanjiang, an international forest mountaineering festival in Zhaoqing, a national 4-wheel-drive cross-country rally in Qingyuan and a tourism gourmet⁹ and commodity fair in Chaozhou.

"All people are welcome to enjoy their hobbies through the wonderful programs," organizers said.

At the same time, talks will be held during the festival on the area's abundant business opportunities, organizers said.

More than 10,000 visitors from home and abroad - including high-ranking governmental officials, experts and representatives from the media, the business community, travel agencies and cultural groups - will participate, according to organizers.