Foreign tourists travelling to China this year are in for brand new experiences - enriched tourism products and routes, better local infrastructure and services, and more local events, thanks to the “2018, Year of Integrated Tourism” campaign announced by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
The theme aims at enhancing the drive to build a “beautiful China” - more balanced and sustainable tourism development, and to better serve the demands of domestic and international travellers.
All regions in China have launched tourism publicity events under the general theme of “Beautiful China” with different annual themes regularly, since 2013.
The slogans of this year’s campaign are “New Era, New Tourism, New Achievements” and “Region-based Tourism, Brand New Pursuit”.
According to Li Jinzao, the chairman of CNTA, over the past several decades, developing tourism in China mainly focused on tourist attractions, scenic areas, and restaurants and hotels, called the tourist attraction tourism model.
As the industry has evolved into a new phase of mass tourism, China’s tourism administration has strategically transformed into a new, integrated tourism model, Li said.
The new model refers to a concept and model of tourism prioritized in a region to organically integrate resources and industries, share responsibilities and benefits, and spur tourism-driven economic and social development, according to He Li, deputy director of CNTA’s office in New York.
In recent years, integrated tourism has been highly valued by the leadership of China. In 2016, President Xi Jinping said during his visit to Ningxia Hui autonomous region, “Integrated tourism is a correct path which should be adhered to.”
“We’ve decided to deepen the implementation of integrated tourism this year and I think it will also benefit American tourists and other overseas tourists who want to go to China,” said He. A report released by the China Tourism Academy indicates that visitor arrivals and tourism consumption in China in 2016 continued to grow, especially, from overseas tourist source markets. China received more than 139 million inbound tourists in 2017, an increase of 0.8 percent, and the number of foreign tourists grew 3.6 percent to 29.2 million.
“Local infrastructure and service enhancement is a top priority,” said He. “We are improving the infrastructure development, such as, the ‘toilet revolution’ project in major cities and rural areas to improve infrastructure.”
(chinadaily.com.cn)