Shanxi Strides Towards an Internationally Renowned Cultural Tourism Destination from Seven Aspects

On February 22, 2023, a conference on culture and tourism was held in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, clarifying the goal of building Shanxi into a leading province in cultural development in the new era and building Taiyuan into an internationally renowned destination of cultural tourism. To be more specific, the cultural and tourism industry in Shanxi Province will make efforts in the following seven aspects. 

To accelerate the revitalization of cultural construction and tourism development, Shanxi will further make good use of the policy concerning the guarantees on the quality of tourism services. At the same time, the province will also take advantage of other preferable policies, and encourage travel agencies to strive for larger shares in the market. 

To develop itself as a model cultural tourism city, Shanxi will highlight the leading roles of two cities, namely Taiyuan and Datong, by constructing 10 rehabilitation and recreation clusters in Jinyuan District of Taiyuan, Hunyuan County of Datong, Youyu County of Shuozhou, Mount Wutai in Xinzhou, Pingyao County of Jinzhong, among others.

To promote the development of the cultural industry, the province will establish a number of tourism bases and routes for intangible cultural heritage-related experiences. In addition, the construction of smart libraries and an online public platform for cultural events will be carried out on all fronts. 

To facilitate the construction of tourist attractions, plans will be implemented to build and develop several high-quality tourist attractions and multiply the number of A-level tourist attractions in Shanxi. At the same time, tourist attractions are encouraged to adopt the latest digital and technological advances.  

To upgrade the marketing strategies concerning its cultural tourism sector, Shanxi will continue to improve the eminence, reputation and influence of its two brands, namely "Tracing Ancient Chinese Civilization in Tourist Attractions in Shanxi" and "Shanxi as a Destination of Rehabilitation and Recreation".

To promote industrial integration, Shanxi Province will manage to improve tourism experiences with cultural significance and vigorously develop patterns including red tourism, rural tourism, industrial tourism, research-oriented and study-oriented tourism, etc. 

To optimize the quality of services, Wang Aiqin, Director of the Culture and Tourism Department of Shanxi Province, emphasizes "improving the convenience, comfort, and satisfaction of tourists". By integrating elements including resources, data, technological capabilities, markets, among others, a comprehensive service platform for intelligent cultural tourism in Shanxi Province will be established with coordinated efforts, to build a healthy, smooth, safe, and stable environment for the development of the industry.