Chinese cities make greater efforts to boost cultural and tourism consumption

The winter season is a slack tourism season for most regions, especially those with little to no ice and winter sports resources. However, many places, including those mostly located in southern China, are currently actively exploring ways to unleash the potential of cultural and tourism consumption across the seasons.

A tourist scans a QR code to receive tourism consumption vouchers in Danzhai Wanda Town in Danzhai County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, April 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)

According to a recent list jointly released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, 55 cities were added to the second batch of national pilot cities for cultural and tourism consumption. China plans to build 30 demonstration cities and 100 pilot cities for cultural and tourism consumption by 2022, according to a previously issued circular.

East China’s Jiangsu province recently launched a four-month campaign to boost cultural and tourism consumption. During the campaign which will run between October 2021 and February 2022, the province will host 10 major activities to stimulate people’s consumption capacity and upgrade consumption.

Jiangsu developed 20 high-quality travel routes for the autumn and winter seasons, including a hot springs travel route and a study and research travel route, among others. It will organize a series of other activities to boost nighttime consumption and promote rural tourism.

Chen Jinsong, director of industry development with the culture and tourism department of Jiangsu, said during the campaign the province will launch a total of 87 activities to attract tourists, issue consumption vouchers with a total value of more than 1 trillion yuan to boost consumption, and announce cuts in admission fees at more than 130 scenic spots.

Chengdu, capital city of southwest China’s Sichuan province, has taken measures to integrate and upgrade tourism resources. In the first nine months of this year, the city received a total of 157 million tourists. According to an official with the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture, Broadcast-TV and Tourism, the city plans to roll out immersive and experiential tourism products that will cover museums, cultural heritage, music and cultural performances, as well as ecological- and fashion-focused tourism, among other categories, in order to fully unleash the potential of its tourism resources.

Zhang Punan is a travel route planner based in Lianyungang city, Jiangsu. In October this year, Zhang tailored a travel route for two tourists visiting the city, taking the two to famous attractions in the city and arranging activities for them that included enjoying local snacks, going to a concert, watching a street band performance, and a magic show.

“We had a good time here. Previously when we visited the city, we spent our nights watching TV shows in hotel rooms because there were few activities arranged for us at night. This time, we made night visits to tourist attractions in the city. It was a fantastic experience,” said the two tourists.