Provincial Party Secretary and Governor in Chief! Anhui accelerates the construction of a high-quality tourism strong province with advantages | Anhui | Governor

On the morning of July 29th, focusing on the integration of culture and tourism, Anhui held a provincial conference on high-quality tourism development. Just like the summer breeze, it permeates the land of Jianghuai and nurtures the dream of flourishing growth - to seize the opportunity and accelerate the construction of a high-quality tourism province.

Anhui is rich in mountain and water resources, with beautiful natural scenery, especially known for its "three mountains, three rivers, and two lakes". Not only that, but there is also a rich historical and cultural heritage, with the integration and coexistence of Huaihe culture, Wanjiang culture, and Huizhou culture. The Lao Zhuang culture, Jian'an literature, and Cheng Zhu philosophy promote development, while Huizhou opera, Lu opera, and Huangmei opera sing in China.

At present, Anhui Province has 683 A-level tourist attractions, including 12 5A level, ranking tenth in the country; We have 1080 key cultural heritage preservation units, including 175 national key cultural heritage preservation units. In addition, there are 818 provincial-level and national level traditional villages, over 8000 ancient houses, 5 national comprehensive tourism demonstration zones, and 6 national cultural and tourism consumption pilot cities.

From the perspective of resource endowments alone, Anhui has beautiful mountains and rivers, splendid culture, and a long history, which promotes the high-quality development of tourism in the province. Anhui has a foundation and advantages, which also strengthens its confidence in promoting the leapfrog development of tourism industry.

But with the development of the times, relying solely on abundant tourism resources to attract tourists has become a thing of the past. Quality tourism, in-depth tourism, and characteristic tourism are gradually becoming popular, which puts higher demands on the development of cultural tourism.

Anhui has a profound understanding of this and also has measures to respond.

On the eve of the conference, Anhui Province issued the "Opinions on Deepening the Integration of Culture and Tourism, Highlighting the Huizhou Style and Anhui Charm, and Accelerating the Construction of a High Quality Tourism Strong Province". This is the first tourism policy document issued by Anhui Province in the name of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government after the merger of the cultural and tourism departments. Draw a "construction drawing" and provide a "schedule" to clarify the ideas and measures for the current and future development of the tourism industry.

The Opinion clearly states that we must adhere to the principle of shaping tourism with culture and highlighting tourism with culture, construct an overall development pattern of "one zone, three circles, and four belts", implement six major projects such as the construction of a new tourism highland, and form a high-quality tourism destination that showcases the charm of Huizhou and Anhui, with scenery on the spot, online, and surface.

The Opinion proposes that by 2025, the province will receive 1 billion tourists annually, with a total tourism revenue of 1.2 trillion yuan, and the added value of the tourism industry accounting for 5.7% of GDP. By 2027, a high-quality tourism strong province will be basically established, with an annual reception of over 1.1 billion tourists and a total tourism revenue of 1.4 trillion yuan. The added value of the tourism industry will account for 6% of GDP.

Peach Blossom Pond in Xuancheng. Han Jun, Secretary of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, stated that from a strategic perspective, the tourism industry is a pillar industry, a prosperous industry for the people, and an important driving force for economic growth.

The cultural and tourism industry has a long chain, low resource consumption, and good comprehensive benefits. So, what is the driving role of the cultural and tourism industry? Data is the most powerful footnote.

Related data shows that there are as many as 110 industries related to the cultural and tourism industry. For every 1 yuan increase in tourism revenue, it can drive the related industries to increase their revenue by 4.3 yuan; For every 1 person directly employed in the tourism industry, it can drive 5 to 8 job opportunities in society.

"Although the tourism industry may not increase GDP significantly, it can create employment, activate the market, and make people's wallets fuller and sense of gain stronger," said Han Jun.

In the increasingly fierce regional competition, the quality of the tourism environment directly affects the image of a city. In Han Jun's view, promoting tourism is about promoting development, improving people's livelihoods, and also about promoting the future.

In recent years, Anhui has followed the trend of consumption upgrading, vigorously promoted the improvement of tourism industry quality and efficiency, and the tourism economy has flourished, with brand image and influence continuously improving. From 2016 to 2019, the three important indicators of receiving inbound tourists, domestic tourists, and total tourism revenue in Anhui Province increased annually by 10.5%, 16.3%, and over 20%, respectively.

In the first half of this year, the province received 415 million domestic tourists, achieving a domestic tourism revenue of 395.9 billion yuan, which recovered to 103.5% and 101.1% of the same period in 2019, respectively, higher than the national average by 25.8 and 18.7 percentage points.

A series of data all indicate the promising trend of accelerating the recovery of Anhui's cultural and tourism industry.

Zhanggongshan Park in Bengbu. Although the scale and efficiency of the tourism industry are steadily improving, the shortcomings still exist, and the advantages and potential have not been fully unleashed. Compared with developed tourism provinces, there is still a certain gap.

"Good mountains, good waters, and rich culture have not yet been fully transformed into industrial and competitive advantages." Han Jun admitted that there are mainly many shortcomings, such as weak comprehensive strength, insufficient supply of high-end products, insufficient innovation and integration of business formats, and poor tourism development ecology.

"Shortcomings are potential, and latecomers are also advantages." Han Jun said, "We need to beat the drum with a heavy hammer, work with real knives and guns, accelerate the construction of an upgraded version of Anhui's tourism economy, and strive to create a new situation of high-quality development in Anhui's tourism industry.".

In view of this, Anhui Province has adjusted the Leading Group for Promoting Tourism Reform and Development to the Leading Group for Accelerating the Construction of a High Quality Tourism Strong Province, with the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and the Governor personally leading and serving as the group leader.

A strong tourism province is a systematic project that requires joint efforts from all over the province.

Anhui Province will accelerate the construction of a development pattern of "one zone, three circles, and four belts", namely the Anhui South International Cultural Tourism Demonstration Zone; Hefei Urban Science and Technology Innovation Cultural Leisure Tourism Circle, Dabie Mountain Red Green Integration Cultural Tourism Circle, Anhui North Cultural Tourism Integration Development Tourism Circle; The cultural and tourism development belt of the Yangtze River, Huai River, Xin'an River, and Jianghuai Canal.

At the same time, we will implement six major projects, including the construction of a new tourism highland, demonstration of high-quality rural leisure tourism, improvement of tourism level, promotion of tourism consumption, promotion of tourism brand dissemination, and upgrading of tourism services. We will refine our products, create unique features, provide excellent services, do a good job in ecology, and strengthen our industry. We will promote the brand of "Beautiful Anhui welcomes visitors to the world" and build a model of "Beautiful China" in Anhui.