Chongqing - The 2022 China Wuling Cultural Tourism Summit took place in Youyang County from July 16 to 18. Representatives of cultural tourism departments from Chongqing, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, and Guizhou, along with related experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from all over the country, gathered in YouYang Tujia & Miao Autonomous County.

The opening ceremony of the 2022 China Wuling Cultural Tourism Summit. (iChongqing/Deng Yan)

The summit is Chongqing's culture and tourism event to boost overall popularity and promote the integrated development of the tourism resources in the Wuling Mountain area, which spans 81 districts incorporating part of the neighboring Hubei, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces.

While the numerous tourist resorts, including Fairy Mountain, Enshi, Zhangjiajie, and Fanjing Mountain, previously operated independently, the summit has been convened to enhance infrastructure, services, and platforms' share of tourism resources to attract greater numbers of tourists nationally and overseas. 

Gongtan Ancient Town. (Photo provided to iChongqing)

At the opening ceremony, the cultural tourism departments of Chongqing, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, and Sichuan signed the agreement to build Wuling Cultural Tourism Destination. The plan is to make the Wuling Mountain area a nationally famous and world-renowned folk custom ecotourism destination and to turn Bashu Cultural Tourism Corridor into a world-class attraction for leisure traveling.

The cultural tourism departments of Chongqing, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, and Sichuan signed the agreement to build Wuling Cultural Tourism Destination. (Photo provided to iChongqing)

13 banks in Chongqing will loan 7.78 billion yuan

The Wuling cultural tourism marketing platform was officially launched on the day of the summit. The platform provides tourists with one-stop tourism public services by integrating regional cultural tourism industry data. The services include cultural tourism consulting, cultural tourism products, online promotion, discounts, travel reservations, and other functions. 

The online platform was launched at the event. (Photo provided to iChongqing)

In addition, the summit held project promotion and investment promotion projects and signed collective contracts totaling 24.40 billion yuan. 

Furthermore, 13 banks in Chongqing will loan 7.78 billion yuan to 71 cultural tourism enterprises in the Wuling Region to support their development.

The tourism industry grew 14% from the previous year

At the 2022 China Wuling Cultural Tourism Summit's major cultural tourism project promotion meeting after the opening ceremony, 11 important cultural tourism projects from Xiushan County, Shizhu County, Youyang County, and others all gave promotion presentations on the stage. 

The Special Recreation Town project from Lengshui Town, Shizhu County. (Photo provided to iChongqing)

The Special Recreation Town project from Lengshui Town, Shizhu County, intends to build an international recreation tourism resort with medical treatment, recreation, and sports.

The cultural tourism industry in the Wuling Mountains Region is gathering momentum. Data show that tourism and related industries in the area have had a significant increase of 14.872 billion yuan, 14% higher than the previous year. Also, culture-related sectors have increased by 10.01 billion yuan, 13.39% higher than a year earlier.