Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Overview — Tourism (III)
Section 3: Tourism Development. Since Xiangxi began developing tourism, especially during the 10th Five-Year Plan period, under the strong attention and correct leadership of the CPC Xiangxi Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government, a series of policies and measures were adopted to strengthen tourism infrastructure, build tourism brands, tighten industry management and improve practitioner...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section 3 Tourism Development
Since Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture began developing its tourism industry, especially during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, under the high attention and correct leadership of the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government, a series of policies and measures were adopted to vigorously strengthen tourism infrastructure construction, strive to build tourism brands, effectively strengthen tourism industry management, and firmly grasp the education and training of practitioners, thereby greatly improving tourism service conditions and significantly enhancing tourism service quality. The tourism industry showed an extraordinary, leapfrog development momentum. In 2005, the prefecture received 5.5 million tourist visits throughout the year and achieved tourism revenue of 2.05 billion yuan, increasing by 3.26 times and 10 times respectively compared to 2001; the proportion of total tourism output in the prefecture's GDP increased from 3.3% in 2001 to 10% in 2005, making it a new pillar industry with the fastest economic growth rate, the most rapid development, the strongest driving force, and bringing more tangible benefits to the people.
I. Leaders at All Levels Attach Great Importance to the Tourism Industry
The development of the tourism industry in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture received high attention and strong support from higher-level leaders. In April 2001, when Premier Zhu Rongji of the State Council inspected Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, he pointed out: "Developing tourism is the greatest path for Xiangxi in the future." In October 2002, when Yang Zhengwu, Secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee, inspected the ancient city of Fenghuang and the Warring States period ancient city site of Liye, he pointed out: The ancient city of Fenghuang has profound cultural heritage and should be built into a world-renowned tourist destination in accordance with the requirements of "protecting the ancient city, building a new city, and restoring the Great Wall." The ancient city of Liye is a treasure in the history of the Chinese nation and should be built into a famous historical and cultural city, a well-known tourist destination, and a base for researching history and culture in accordance with the approach of "comprehensive protection, prompt development, and full utilization." The state and province have also provided substantial human, material, and financial support to the tourism industry of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture over the years.
The CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government attached great importance to the tourism industry, requiring the entire prefecture to form a new pattern in which party committees and governments value tourism, departments at all levels support tourism, all citizens participate in tourism, and the whole society vigorously develops tourism. Leaders of the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture Government repeatedly went deep into counties, cities, and tourist areas and attractions for research and on-site office work, studying and resolving issues related to tourism industry development; the party and government "top leaders" of each county and city personally took charge of tourism, earnestly implemented the "Decision of the Prefecture Committee and Prefecture Government on Accelerating Tourism Industry Development," and vigorously promoted the tourism industry-driven strategy, forming a strong synergy from top to bottom to promote the rapid development of the tourism industry. In 2001, the Prefecture Tourism Industry Development Leading Group and the Prefecture Holiday Tourism Work Coordination Group were established, with Long Songjiang, Deputy Secretary of the Prefecture Committee, as the group leader and Yang Xianjie, Executive Deputy Prefecture Governor, as the deputy group leader. After issuing the "Decision on Accelerating Tourism Development," the Prefecture Committee and Prefecture Government successively introduced several preferential policies for developing the tourism industry. For example, enterprises and operators engaged in ethnic cultural tourism were encouraged to build or renovate residential houses with ethnic characteristics along tourism routes according to plans, with the construction and renovation costs appropriately subsidized by the finance departments of each county and city; for units and individual businesses operating tourism in tourist areas and attractions, if their staff wore ethnic clothing, the local tax department would grant a 2% reduction when assessing the tax amount, and various administrative fees would be further reduced by 3%. By 2005, newly built and renovated residential houses with traditional ethnic characteristics were everywhere in major tourist areas and attractions, too numerous to count; a large number of practitioners wearing ethnic clothing appeared on duty, and the tourism industry was presenting itself to the vast number of visitors with its entirely new appearance and strong ethnic characteristics.
II. Formulating Tourism Plans and Depicting Tourism Visions
Planning work is the lighthouse that guides the tourism ship to the victorious shore. The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Tourism Bureau vigorously pursued tourism planning work. In 2003, in cooperation with the Institute of Environment and Science of Hunan University, it compiled the "Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture 2001-2015 Tourism Industry Development Plan," which passed expert review on October 31 and was officially issued and implemented by the prefecture government on November 6. It determined to take Jishou as the center and Fenghuang as the leader, implement key development of the golden tourism route of Mengdong River (Qifeng Lake) - Jishou - Fenghuang, and build the entire prefecture into a world-renowned tourist destination. By 2015, annual domestic and international tourist visits would reach 8 million, and total annual tourism output would reach 4.8 billion yuan, accounting for over 20% of the prefecture's GDP. At the same time, the "Liye Town Urban Master Plan," for the important tourism and trade town in the Hunan-Chongqing border area, also passed expert review. By 2005, the compilation of tourism development plans for all 8 counties and cities in the prefecture was fully completed.
Striving to build tourism brands. Highlighting the four major tourism segments of Fenghuang historical and cultural city tour, Dehang Miao ethnic customs tour, Mengdong River and Qifeng Lake Tujia cultural and ecological tour, and Liye historical and cultural town tour, integrating tourism resources, building premium tourism routes, implementing overall packaging for external promotion, and building the "Mysterious Xiangxi Tour" brand. Highlighting the three major characteristics of profound historical culture, magical mountain and water scenery, and rich ethnic customs, strengthening the exploration of ethnic culture, creating a batch of ethnic cultural masterpieces, cultivating industries such as cultural tourism, performing arts and exhibitions, cultural entertainment, and ethnic folk handicraft processing, and enhancing the cultural taste of tourism. In accordance with the positioning of consolidating and expanding the domestic market and accelerating the development of the international market, carefully organizing and planning tourism publicity and promotional activities, increasing tourism marketing, expanding the scale of overseas tourists, and further enhancing the visibility of tourism in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture.
III. Increasing Capital Investment and Vigorously Strengthening Infrastructure Construction
Striving to accelerate tourism infrastructure construction with transportation as the focus. To accelerate the building of the "Zhangjiajie - Mengdong River - Jishou - Fenghuang" golden tourism route, over the past few years a transportation network has been built and formed with Zhangjiajie Hehua Airport in the north, Guizhou Tongren Daxing Airport in the south, the Jiaozuo-Liuzhou Railway running through north and south, and National Highway 319 and National Highway 209 about to be built into expressways. The transportation "bottleneck" that had long constrained the development of the tourism industry in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture has been broken through.
Innovative model for tourism development. In order to accelerate the infrastructure construction of tourist areas and attractions, after years of exploration and practice, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture gradually formed a tourism development model suitable for local conditions: "government-led, company-operated, and mass-participated," which was praised by the National Tourism Administration as an innovative model.
Government leadership is mainly reflected in development strategy, planning, industrial policy, macro-control, infrastructure construction, market regulation, and creating a favorable environment. The government also actively sought project funding from higher levels. During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, a total of 172.44 million yuan was secured from tourism bonds and other sources (excluding tourism trunk road construction), which was invested in infrastructure construction of scenic areas and attractions, as well as talent training and market promotion.
Corporate operation means boldly introducing investment companies and encouraging private investment in tourism development in accordance with the principle of separating ownership from management rights. More than 10 companies have been introduced with a total investment of 2.081 billion yuan, greatly improving the infrastructure construction of various scenic areas and attractions. For example, Fenghuang Ancient City Tourism Co., Ltd. invested over 60 million yuan to restore 2.7 kilometers of the Southern Great Wall and relocate residents from the Huangsiqiao Ancient City; together with Dehang Tourism Co., Ltd., it invested over 30 million yuan to build the tourist paths and docks at the Laosicheng Scenic Area, completed the antique-style renovation of Wangcun Town, the hardening of the tourist paths in the Xiaoxi Ecological Tourism Area, and the star-rating renovation of the Niuluhe Reception Station and Mengdonghe Hotel; Dehang Tourism Company invested over 5 million yuan to renovate Tiaogeping, the parking lot, and the ancient Miao dwellings; Hunan Hongyi Company invested 90 million yuan to develop the Zuolongxi adventure tourism project in Guzhang and 150 million yuan to develop the Wulongshan Grand Canyon; Hunan Construction Engineering Group invested 18 million yuan to build infrastructure projects for the Mengdonghe Tourism Economic Development Zone.
Mass participation is mainly manifested in the unprecedented enthusiasm of all sectors of society and the public for participating in tourism development. Non-state-owned economies entering the tourism industry and the public's eagerness to run tourism businesses have become popular trends. For example, more than 300 family inns have been established in Fenghuang Ancient City; several rural youths from Yaxi in Jishou raised funds on their own to establish the "Tianxiayou" tourist coach fleet, which by 2005 owned dozens of luxury tour buses. Private, individually-owned, and shareholding enterprises have become the mainstream of tourism enterprise development in the entire prefecture, representing the development direction of tourism enterprises in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture and serving as the main force in improving the tourism infrastructure of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture.
By the end of 2005, the entire prefecture had a total of 28 star-rated hotels, 33 travel agencies, over 600 family inns, 5 luxury coach fleets with more than 100 vehicles, over 500 tour boats, more than 1,000 tourism commodity sales outlets and dining and entertainment outlets, and over 80,000 tourism employees.
IV. Building Tourism Brands and Vigorously Expanding Markets
In accordance with the overall requirements of integrating resources, highlighting characteristics, and creating masterpieces, and the principle of "product classification and functional zoning," Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, while building the overall brand of "Mysterious Xiangxi Tour," has through years of effort and striving produced a large number of distinctive masterpieces. In 2005, brand influence expanded increasingly, and brand benefits became prominent. At the same time, in accordance with the positioning and market operation model of consolidating and expanding the domestic market and accelerating the development of the international market, since 2001 the entire prefecture has invested over 55 million yuan in market promotion activities and carried out various forms of market promotion. For example, in 2005, the entire prefecture invested over 18 million yuan in market promotion, successively holding large-scale tourism promotional events such as the "Dehang·China Drum Culture Festival," "Into the Border Town," "Southern Great Wall World Go Peak Duel," and "China Longshan National Paragliding Championship," and organizing delegations to participate in the 2005 China Domestic Tourism Fair and the Hunan Tourism Festival and the First National Tourism Masterpieces Expo, making the "Mysterious Xiangxi Tour" brand increasingly well-known and influential.
V. Regulating the Tourism Market and Promoting Tourism Management
With the rapid development of the tourism industry, tourism operating units and practitioners have multiplied. Rapid development inevitably brings some irregular market behaviors. For example, in certain scenic spots, illegal operators such as "black agencies," "black vehicles," "black boats," and "wild guides" have emerged; some travel agencies engage in price-cutting competition, mislead tourists, arbitrarily add or remove tour items from itineraries, and some even promote things like "strolling along the Tuojiang River, gazing at the Southern Great Wall from afar," arbitrarily lowering service quality, which has provoked strong reactions and complaints. To avoid the phenomenon of "prosperity in one area, chaos in another" seen in some regions, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture has treated strengthening tourism industry management and regulating tourism market order as a major priority. It has organized elite forces to crack down on illegal activities such as "black agencies," "black vehicles," "black boats," "wild guides," as well as unlicensed operations, price-cutting competition, deceptive shopping, reducing itineraries, and lowering service standards, to stop disorderly competition and self-destructive rivalry, protect the rights and interests of consumers and lawful operators, and maintain good market order. First, travel agencies and similar tourism companies are strictly reviewed and approved, and travel agencies and star-rated hotels already in operation are carefully re-examined, with the inspection and review results publicly announced to enhance transparency and facilitate public oversight; second, behaviors are regulated by joining with industry and commerce, public security, and other departments to organize law enforcement personnel to conduct inspections in scenic areas, stations and docks, hotels, and travel agencies, correcting problems as they are found; third, a scoring system is applied to tour guides, urging those holding temporary tour guide certificates within the prefecture to take the national tour guide examination, gradually achieving the transition to national tour guides. Through vigorous management, the tourism market order throughout the prefecture has been good, powerfully promoting the development of the tourism industry.
VI. Carrying Out Tourism Education and Training to Improve the Quality of Practitioners
The shortage of tourism talent and the low quality of practitioners are practical problems constraining the development of the tourism industry in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. Of the more than 80,000 people directly and indirectly employed in tourism throughout the prefecture in 2005, those aged 20–35 accounted for 76.5%, making it a young workforce. However, only 24.5% of employees in tourism enterprises and institutions had a college degree or above, and only 13.7% had obtained professional technical titles, so accelerating talent training is an urgent task. To this end, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture adopted various methods such as sending people out for training, inviting experts in, holding training classes, and conducting training examinations, using multiple channels to accelerate the training of tourism practitioners, with good results. By the end of 2005, the number of national tour guides in the entire prefecture had risen to more than 600, and the management and service levels of travel agencies, tourist hotels, and tourist vehicle and boat companies at various scenic areas (sites) had all improved to a certain extent. Tourism throughout the prefecture is flourishing, and a pattern of grand tourism, grand industry, and grand development has already taken shape.