Suwon City Establishes Sister City Relationship with French Tourist City 'Tours'

Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun (left) is taking a commemorative photo with Emmanuel Denis, Mayor of Tours, after signing a sister city agreement on the performance stage inside the "Tours Expo 2023" exhibition hall on the 6th (local time).

The city of Suwon in Gyeonggi Province has signed an international sister and friendship city agreement with 'Tours,' a representative tourist city in France.

On the 6th (local time), Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-jun signed the sister city agreement with Emmanuel Denis, Mayor of Tours, on the performance stage at the 'Tours Expo 2023' exhibition hall, Suwon City announced on the 7th.

According to this agreement, the two cities will promote exchanges and cooperation in overall urban policies including city management, culture and arts, and natural and biological diversity.

Tours is a city located in the central-western inland of France where tradition and modernity coexist. It has a population of about 140,000, but attracts over one million tourists annually, making it a representative tourist city in France. It is one of the historical and cultural cities designated by the French government, and in 2000, UNESCO designated it as a World Heritage City for culture and landscape.

Known as the "Garden of France," it has many Renaissance-era castles and parks around the Loire River. Tourists visiting the castles never cease. Centered around the Leonardo da Vinci Convention, it pursues tourism projects linked to the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) industry and eco-friendly transportation policies, similar to Suwon City's pursuit of "sustainable urban development."

Suwon City had previously exchanged a 'Letter of Intent for Friendly Cooperation and Exchange' with Tours in 2019 and has maintained steady exchanges since then.

In October last year, a delegation from Tours visited the 59th Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival, and in March, Suwon Museum of Art and Tours CCC OD (Olivier Debr? Contemporary Art Creation Center) held a video conference to discuss cooperation plans. Suwon City is promoting an international exhibition to display works from CCC OD's collection at the Suwon Museum of Art.

Mayor Lee Jae-jun said, "Tours is a beautiful ecological city flowing with tradition and culture," and added, "We are pleased that Suwon City has become a sister city with Tours."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.