2024 Inbound Tourism High-Quality Development Conference held in Hefei, Anhui

On September 10, the 2024 Inbound Tourism High-Quality Development Conference, co-organized by the China Tourism Academy, the Publicity Department of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Anhui Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and the Hefei Municipal People's Government, was held in Hefei. The theme of the conference was "Product Innovation and the Construction of a Tourism Power". The opening ceremony of the conference was hosted by Zhou Mingjie, Director of the Anhui Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. Sun Yong, Vice Governor of the Anhui Provincial People's Government, delivered a speech. He said that this conference provides a platform for communication and exchange between the Chinese and foreign tourism industries and deepens cooperation, and to come up with good strategies and practical measures to promote the high-quality development of inbound tourism, and jointly promote the sustained recovery and prosperity of the tourism industry in Anhui, China and the world. He pointed out that it is necessary to strengthen market cooperation, adhere to the combination of demand traction and supply optimization; strengthen industry exchanges, and establish multi-level exchanges and cooperation relations between local governments, tourism cities, industry associations, and tourism enterprises.

Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, pointed out in his speech that inbound tourism has always been the focus of my country's tourism work and the starting point of tourism policy innovation. After inbound tourism has entered a new channel of rapid recovery and a new stage of prosperity and development, building a tourism power requires top-level design, local exploration, and more importantly, the tourism industry to move forward in the same direction. President Dai Bin emphasized that Anhui, especially the Huangshan area and Hefei City, has always been the most important inbound tourism destination, and is also the theoretical source and practical exploration site for the innovative development of the tourism industry. It is expected that Anhui will tell a new story of culture and tourism in the process of Chinese-style modernization and show a beautiful new image of China in the new stage of inbound tourism development. It is expected that Anhui will accelerate the construction of world-class tourist attractions and resorts, tourist cities and blocks, accelerate the cultivation of world-class tourism enterprises and service brands, cultivate new world-class and national tourism routes, and strive to improve the modern tourism system in the process of comprehensively deepening reform, strive to improve the satisfaction of inbound tourists, and comprehensively enhance the competitiveness of international tourism.

In the keynote speech, He Yi, deputy secretary of the Huangshan Municipal Party Committee and mayor, pointed out that "Dahuangshan" is not a specific mountain, but a unified big IP. Dahuangshan has a different scene at every step, a continuous cultural heritage, excellent ecology, convenient access, and bursting vitality. I hope everyone can feel at ease everywhere and meet at Dahuangshan.

Zheng Lijuan, Party Secretary, Chairman and General Manager of China Tourism Group Travel Services Co., Ltd., shared China Travel's experience and practices in promoting the recovery and development of inbound tourism. She hopes to work together to promote the accelerated development of inbound tourism in areas such as expanding tourism product development, improving tourism service quality, strengthening international exchanges and cooperation in the field of culture and tourism, making good use of the advantages of overseas layout of central enterprises, and enhancing the international flight capacity of Hefei Port.

Wang Wei, Chairman of Yuanhai International Tourism Group, shared the demand characteristics and trends of different source markets. He pointed out that the Southeast Asian market has strong demand for tourism to China, especially for short-distance travel. Although the European market is growing rapidly, the volume of Chinese tourism products in Europe needs to be increased. European tourists prefer immersive cultural experiences, and the demand for study tours in China is growing. The Arab market has great growth potential.

In the results release session, Dr. Liu Xiangyan of the China Tourism Academy released the "Report on the High-quality Development of China's Inbound Tourism". The report pointed out that with the introduction and implementation of convenient policy measures in terms of entry visas, payment of overseas personnel, and accommodation registration, inbound tourism has returned to the national strategic system. After more than a year of preparation and reorganization, the recovery and development trend of my country's inbound tourism market has continued to improve. The inbound tourism market has shown trends such as individual tourists, life-oriented experience content, and niche destinations. In the future, the high-quality development of inbound tourism requires destination management departments and market players to have a deep insight into the demand of the inbound tourism market and continue to innovate in policies, systems, products and services, and brand marketing.

After watching the Anhui Province inbound tourism promotional video, Dr. Yu Chao and Dr. Liu Qianqian, members of our institute’s inbound tourism course group, announced the top ten scenic spots and resorts favored by inbound tourists, the top ten famous cities and ancient towns favored by inbound tourists, and the top five new inbound tourism routes.

In the session titled "Dialogue on High-Quality Development of International Tourism Destinations", Dr. Yang Jinsong, Director of the International Institute of the China Tourism Academy, Wu Pingchuan, Member of the Standing Committee of the Huainan Municipal Party Committee and Minister of the Propaganda Department, Wu Yajuan, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Hefei Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, Yin Liangqin, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Lijiang Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, Liu Zhupei, Deputy Director of the Digital and Information Department of the Palace Museum, Liu Huiyuan, Chief Operating Officer of Tui China Travel Co., Ltd., Ma Shukun, Senior Marketing Manager of Expedia Group, Chen Haiyan, Senior Tourism Marketing Manager of Bicester China Village, Nicole Borg, Head of Operations of Wendy Wu Tours, and Susanna Camuffo, Project Director of "Welcome China" of Zheyi Holdings Limited, had an in-depth discussion on the theme.

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