Tourism Revitalization Policies and Their Implementation in the Context of Epidemic Response - Song Zikai's Keynote Speech at the "7th China-South Korea Tourism Cooperation Symposium"

On the afternoon of June 4, 2020, the "Seventh China-South Korea Tourism Cooperation Symposium" was held online, jointly organized by the China Tourism Academy and the Korea Cultural and Tourism Research Institute. The presidents of the two academies led their respective teams, along with representatives from the tourism industry and media reporters from both countries, to attend the event. The director of the Policy and Science and Education Research Institute of the China Tourism Academy, Song Zikan, delivered a keynote speech titled "Tourism Revitalization Policies and Their Implementation under the Background of Epidemic Response". I would like to introduce the implementation of China's tourism revitalization policies under the background of the COVID-19 pandemic in four stages, namely the initial stage of the outbreak, the period of the epidemic spreading, the period when the epidemic control situation improved, and the period of regular epidemic control.

1. At the beginning of the outbreak of the epidemic

This refers to the period leading up to the 2020 Spring Festival. The Chinese government took the outbreak in Wuhan very seriously from the outset. On January 7, 2020, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and President of the People's Republic of China, chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, outlining requirements for epidemic prevention and control. On January 20, Xi Jinping issued specific instructions on epidemic prevention and control, requiring Party committees and governments at all levels and relevant departments to prioritize the safety and health of the people and take effective measures to resolutely curb the spread of the epidemic. On the same day, the Chinese government established the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, composed of 32 departments. Subsequently, the Chinese government introduced a series of measures to combat the epidemic and stabilize economic and social development. At 10:00 AM on January 23, Wuhan was officially locked down. Against this backdrop, on January 24, Lunar New Year's Eve, the General Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued an "Emergency Notice on Suspending the Business Activities of Tourism Enterprises to Fully Implement the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia Caused by the Novel Coronavirus." Following the issuance of this notice, organized tourism activities within China were immediately suspended, making a significant contribution to slowing the spread of the epidemic. This seemingly simple suspension represented the hard work and dedication of numerous tourism enterprises and employees. Many tourism platforms, online travel agencies, travel agencies, scenic spots, and hotels, while facing significant losses from shutdowns, also needed to work overtime to handle changes, cancellations, and refunds for tourists' itineraries. II. The period of the epidemic's spread refers to the time from the 2020 Spring Festival to early February. Due to the spread of the epidemic, in order to reduce population movement, on January 26, the General Office of the State Council of China issued the "Notice on Extending the 2020 Spring Festival Holiday," extending the 2020 Spring Festival holiday to February 2. Across the country, cities and villages were successively placed under lockdown, and the vast majority of production and business activities ceased. Scenic spots, museums, stadiums, and other venues were completely closed, and daily life activities such as buying groceries and shopping were restricted to a small scale. These measures effectively curbed the spread of the epidemic. Given the enormous impact of the epidemic on business operations and people's employment and lives, starting from January 24th, the Chinese central government successively issued a series of policies on properly handling labor relations issues during the epidemic prevention and control period, investigating and punishing illegal price gouging, suspending additional tariffs on imported goods, reducing or exempting taxes and fees, and ensuring stable production and supply of agricultural products. Local governments also introduced corresponding policies. These policies safeguarded people's livelihoods and made ample preparations for stable production. Unlike the multiple policies specifically targeting the tourism industry during the 2003 SARS outbreak, due to the wider and deeper impact of this epidemic, most central-level policies are not targeted at specific industries; they are applicable to all sectors, including tourism. The cultural and tourism departments themselves are also actively helping businesses cope with the epidemic, issuing policies such as temporarily refunding part of the tourism service quality deposit to support travel agencies in dealing with operational difficulties, and organizing numerous activities such as online museums, online art appreciation, and online public welfare training. On the one hand, this stabilized the production and operation capabilities of enterprises; on the other hand, it enriched people's spiritual and cultural life while "staying at home." III. The period from mid-February to early April is expected to see a positive improvement in the epidemic prevention and control situation. As the epidemic prevention and control situation improves, the resumption of work and production is on the agenda. On February 5th, the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce issued a notice on organizing the resumption of business operations for commercial enterprises. On February 28th, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting Consumption Expansion and Quality Improvement and Accelerating the Formation of a Strong Domestic Market," one key point of which was to promote the upgrading of cultural tourism and leisure consumption. From mid-February, some scenic spots began to reopen. To ensure orderly reopening, cultural and tourism departments and industry associations issued guidelines on epidemic prevention and control measures for the reopening of tourist attractions, covering aspects such as real-name reservations, entry checks, staggered visit times, reduced capacity standards, and emergency management. To help businesses alleviate difficulties, the General Offices of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued policies such as adjusting the use of some tourism development funds. Various localities also introduced new support policies for the tourism industry, such as deferring social insurance payments and reducing or waiving rent and property management fees. To promote cultural and tourism consumption, some places also adopted measures such as issuing consumption vouchers and implementing 2.5-day weekends. IV. During the Period of Normalized Epidemic Prevention and Control

On April 8, Wuhan lifted its lockdown, marking a new stage in China's epidemic prevention and control efforts. On the same day, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to study and deploy measures for implementing normalized epidemic prevention and control while comprehensively promoting the resumption of work and production. On April 9, the Central Leading Group for Responding to the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic issued the "Guiding Opinions on Actively and Orderly Promoting the Resumption of Work and Production While Effectively Preventing and Controlling the Epidemic," which stated that businesses in low-risk areas could decide their own reopening times, and that for cultural tourism, catering, and enclosed spaces with high population density, measures such as reservations and flow control would be implemented to control crowd density; however, nationwide cultural and sports activities and inter-provincial and cross-border tourism would not resume for the time being. On April 13, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Health Commission jointly issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Epidemic Prevention and Control and Safe and Orderly Opening of Tourist Attractions," making arrangements for limited opening and visitor flow management at tourist attractions. On May 8, the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism issued the "Guiding Opinions on Doing a Good Job in the Regular Prevention and Control of COVID-19," which proposed that, in accordance with relevant technical guidelines and under the premise of implementing prevention and control measures, shopping malls, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, and other living venues should be fully reopened; parks, tourist attractions, sports venues, indoor venues such as libraries, museums, and art galleries, as well as enclosed entertainment and leisure venues such as cinemas and amusement arcades, should be reopened using methods such as reservations and flow restrictions; and various necessary meetings and exhibitions can be held. It can be said that China's tourism industry is currently steadily moving towards revitalization under the guidance of a series of policies.