Chongqing - The 8th Western China Tourism Industry Expo (WTE) has opened with a dazzling variety of exhibitors from home and abroad, who have come together to display the best of tourist routes, natural scenery, human culture, and innovative products. Meanwhile, a packed schedule of industry forums, contests, and 38 signed projects worth 2.1 billion yuan (USD289.6 million) have whetted travel appetites for the eager public.

This year's WTE is based on the theme of Beautiful Life through Integrated Culture and Tourism and is spread across three exhibition halls, with displays featuring the eight major areas of international travel, domestic boutique routes, Bashu culture, cultural innovation, smart technology, travel gear, leisure activities, and animation exhibits.

Chongqing and Sichuan have joined hands at the 8th WTE to deepen exchange and promote the development of the Bashu Cultural Tourism Corridor (Photo/James Alexander)

Furthermore, WTE has attracted 25 international exhibitors from countries such as Japan, Russia, Argentina, Hungary, and the Philippines through embassies, consulates, and travel agencies, while more than twenty other provinces in China have opened exhibition areas along with the 41 districts and counties of Chongqing, offering a feast of travel and culture from exhibitors totaling in the thousands.

Colorful and innovative displays include the use of sand plates, cultural relics, live performances, naked-eye 3D shows, holographic projections, and AI technology, which cover a full range of tourism resources while providing a one-stop service for travel-related consultation, interaction, and consumerism worldwide.

Live performances of intangible cultural heritage have added to a more innovative atmosphere for WTE this year, such as Fengdu Wooden Puppetry (Photo/James Alexander)

WTE is being held by the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development between June 30 – July 2, with their Sichuanese counterpart invited as the guest province of honor. Sichuan and Chongqing are geographic neighbors and provide each other with over 100 million visits per year, with strategic initiatives such as the Bashu Culture and Tourism Corridor playing an important role as a major project in the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).

Yu Xin from the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism said that in addition to deepening exchange and cooperation, both parties would focus on building a world-class leisure and tourism destination in the region with international style, Chinese characteristics, and Bashu charm.

The 178-kilometer circular tourism route at Jinfo Mountain, Chongqing, is just one of many boutique travel products exhibited at WFE this year (Photograph/James Alexander)

"We will emphasize joint construction, strengthen industrial coordination, and promote integrated development as we strive to make the Bashu Corridor a world-renowned tourism brand in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle," Yu explained.

The Bashu Cultural Tourism Corridor Exhibition Area displays the boutique tourism resources of 41 districts and counties in Chongqing, in addition to culturally innovative products, intangible culture, and themed travel routes from Sichuan. At the same time, organizations such as the Sichuan Provincial Tourism Association and cities including Zigong and Yibin have participated in holding exchanges and docking activities.

The 8th WTE has introduced several immersive activities, such as a commercial marketplace replete with characteristic local products. (Photo/James Alexander)

WTE has aimed to infuse new vitality into tourism consumption through immersive experiences such as leisure, camping, and markets on the scene, while the promotion of urban characteristic consumer brands and Chongqing boutique products has been enhanced to stimulate the consumer market and upgrades in regional consumption.

Organizers have also established an online platform for WTE, where netizens can obtain information about discounted products, tours, and travel routes and the chance to purchase scenic spot entrance tickets for as little as 1 yuan. The hopes are this platform can provide a communication bridge for national tourism resources and break through the traditional limitations of space and time.