SW China’s Yunnan promotes integration of tourism with other industries

Seizing on the strong recovery of tourism consumption this year, southwest China’s Yunnan, a top tourist destination boasting unique advantages in tourism resources such as picturesque landscape, diverse ethnic cultures and a sound ecological environment, has promoted the integration of tourism with various other industries.

Tourists take photos at Yuantongshan Park in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)

Thanks to people’s growing desire to travel after this year’s Spring Festival holiday, usually the peak period for travel, scenic spots in Yunnan have been welcoming legions of tourists.

According to China’s online travel agency Ctrip, Dali city remains a popular destination for visitors after the holiday. The popular Chinese TV series “Meet Yourself” has created a tourism boom in the city, with Fengyangyi village, where the TV drama was filmed, attracting crowds of tourists.

In Xishuangbanna, the occupancy rate of some high-end hotels still reaches the Spring Festival holiday level, and that of some riverside hotels hit 70 percent. Lijiang city still draws throngs of visitors thanks to its picturesque natural scenery and colorful cultural and tourism activities.

Many localities in Yunnan have held festivals to promote the in-depth integration of ethnic cultures with tourism. Dayao county in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture holds the Chahua Festival, a unique and vibrant tradition celebrated by the Yi ethnic group, on the eighth day of the second lunar month. This festival features colorful horsewhip flowers decorated on doors, farm tools, hair, and clothes, attracting tourists to the locality.

Focusing on tourists’ demand for high-quality tourism products, various localities in the province have strived to develop new business forms by integrating tourism with other industries.

In recent years, the province has accelerated the integrated development of sports and tourism, improved the sports and tourism infrastructure, intensified efforts to introduce sports and competitions, and developed sports tourism products suitable for all age groups. It has held many famous sports events, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Kunming Marathon, and Granfondo Yunnan, a unique cycling event in China, driving the development of regional sports tourism.

Yunnan has also advanced the building of a beautiful countryside to boost rural tourism and promote the integrated development of agriculture and tourism.

Photo shows tourists at the ancient town in Dali city, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. (Photo/Chen Xiaojun)

Laomudeng village in Fugong county, known for the beautiful scenery of Nujiang Valley, now thrives in rural tourism. Yu Wulin is the first villager in Laomudeng to engage in the tourism industry. He runs a B&B hotel in the village and shares his experiences in running agritainment and tourism businesses with his fellow villagers. As the village vigorously develops rural tourism, villagers have witnessed the thriving of their tourism businesses.

In recent years, Yunnan has built over 30 demonstration scenic areas in terms of the integration of culture with tourism, over 30 demonstration towns and more than 60 demonstration villages. In this regard, several streets featuring cultural tourism, 10 premium tourist routes themed on intangible cultural heritages, 50 high-quality rural tourism routes, and 60 tourist routes to experience the history of the Communist Party of China have been developed.

The province has also introduced measures to clean up the local tourism industry to further improve tourism services.

Going forward, Yunnan will strive to upgrade its tourism industry and promote the high-quality development of the sector.