The national finals of the 1st China Tourism Spring Festival Gala for the Middle Aged and the Elderly (Tourism Gala) recently took place in Suzhou.

Eight teams/individuals, including Old Handsome Boy Art Troupe (OHBAT) of SIP Senior Citizen College, stood out of the 30 finalists and won the top eight places after fierce competition . OHBAT will go to Beijing to have their show recorded as part of the Tourism Gala, which will air on Feb 1, by The Travel Channel.

Jointly produced by Tongcheng Tourism and The Travel Channel (TTC), the first Tourism Gala was officially kicked off in October 2016. "I want to go to Tourism Gala" has become one of the popular social topics, and the middle-aged and elderly have taken an active part in it.  

The top eight teams that have found their way into Tourism Gala have also received the "Peak Star Prize" and travel fund provided by Tongcheng Tourism.

According to the person in charge of Tongcheng Tourism, in order to provide better services for the middle-aged and elderly population and diversify their options in travel, leisure, socialization, etc., Tongcheng Tourism's "Longevity Tourism Club" already worked out the tourism gala competition IP and "Life and Travel", China's first book series on the journey and life stories of the middle-aged and elderly in 2016; the first user IP film in China's tourism industry is expected to hit the screen in 2018.

The organizer will continue to dig into the three hit IP projects that focus on the middle-aged and elderly in 2017. Among others, Tourism Gala will mix deeply with Tongcheng Tourism's destination marketing program, hold 26 semi-finals on the basis of the existing open audition and have them broadcast live on TTC, which means a talent show for the middle-aged and elderly will be put on the stage.