Changjiang Daily:

In recent years, the tourism demands of the people have become more and more strong, and China's tourism industry has developed vigorously, with more and more products, more and more forms of business, and more and more comprehensive benefits. I would like to ask what new features and highlights have been shown in the development of China's tourism industry in the past decade? Thank you.

Rao Quan:

Thank you for your question, I will answer it. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have thoroughly implemented the principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and promoted tourism to become an important indicator for improving people's living standards, an important vehicle for inheriting and enhancing Chinese culture, an important driving force for boosting economic growth, an important field for practicing the philosophy of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," and an important channel for strengthening foreign exchanges and cooperation and enhancing China's cultural soft power. Here I will elaborate on three highlights:

The first is rural tourism. In the past decade, the supply of rural tourism products has been continuously optimized, the infrastructure has been continuously improved, the service quality has been continuously enhanced, and the interest linkage mechanism with farmers as the main body has been continuously perfected. The comprehensive benefits of rural tourism in socio-economic development are constantly shown outstandingly. We have innovatively rolled out 1,299 key villages and towns for rural tourism across the country, created a number of essential rural tourism routes nationwide with rich connotations and distinctive themes, carried out the work to bring creativity to the countryside, and cultivated rural tourism cluster areas. Rural tourism has increasingly become a good way for people to experience idyllic scenery and heartwarming nostalgia, a new field to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and a new force for rural revitalization. According to estimates, in 2019, the number of rural tourism visits in China exceeded 3 billion. A number of impoverished villages, such as Shibadong Village in Hunan province and Huamao Village in Zunyi, Guizhou province, have achieved poverty alleviation and increased employment and income through tourism. Yucun Village in Zhejiang province and Xidi Village in Anhui province were selected by the UNWTO into the list of the best tourism villages in the world, becoming bright business cards showing the beautiful image of China.

The second is red tourism. In the past 10 years, the number of China's red tourism classic scenic spots has expanded from 100 to 300. They have formed a red tourism classic scenic spot system that comprehensively reflects the achievements of the period of the new-democratic revolution, the period of socialist revolution and construction, the period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, and the period of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era. We have introduced the 100 "excellent red tourism routes" to mark the centenary of CPC's founding. The red resources scattered across the vast land of China are being transformed into red scenic spots that can both entertain and educate the tourists, become an effective vehicle for Party members to carry out Party history study and education and strengthen Party spirit cultivation, and become a vivid classroom for officials and the common people, especially young people, to inherit the red gene and accept the cleansing of the red spirit. In recent years, the average annual growth rate of tourist visits for red tourism has exceeded 11%, reaching 1.41 billion visits in 2019.

The third is leisure tourism. In the past decade, we have actively adapted to the diverse needs of tourists and promoted the improvement of quality, efficiency, and transformation and upgrading of tourist attractions. The number of national 5A-level tourist attractions has increased from 144 in 2012 to 306 in 2021, and the proportion of medium and high-level scenic spots has increased significantly. We have innovatively rolled out 671 tourist resorts above the provincial level and more than 300 tourist and leisure streets and blocks above the provincial level, shaping various types of leisure products such as cultural tourism, eco-tourism, health tourism, industrial tourism, sports tourism, ski resorts tourism, and more to continuously meet the diversified and personalized leisure and vacation demands of the people.

Thank you.