Chongqing accelerates high-quality development of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Golden Tourism Belt

The Three Gorges is a "trump card" for our city to build an upgraded version of tourism development. On January 25th, the Municipal Political Consultative Conference Liaison Committee submitted a collective proposal on how to play this "card" well, proposing suggestions to accelerate the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Golden Tourism Belt.

From all aspects, as one of the most prestigious tourist attractions in China, the charm of the Three Gorges is still infinite. The transportation 'shortcomings' are gradually being resolved, consumer demand continues to grow, and project development is thriving. "Huang Bing, a member of the Municipal Political Consultative Conference and the full-time deputy director of the Municipal Cooperation District Liaison Committee, said that it is necessary to create an upgraded version of Three Gorges tourism, accelerate the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Golden Tourism Belt, and make the conditions for the clear waters of the Yangtze River, the green mountains on both sides, and the millennium old scenery shine with new charm mature.

Huang Bing stated that in the macro context of the comprehensive development, quality transformation, and experience upgrading of the tourism industry, there are still many "hidden pain points" in the Three Gorges tourism with scenery, mountains, and culture everywhere, mainly reflected in five aspects - firstly, poor top-level design. Our city has not formulated specific plans and implementation opinions after the release of the "Outline of Tourism Development Plan for the Three Gorges Region of the Yangtze River", nor has it established a coordination mechanism, resulting in various regions acting independently, disorderly development, vicious competition, market chaos, single and identical product structures, which can easily lead to the phenomenon of "tourism fatigue". The situation of "tragedy of the commons" has emerged due to the excessive use of the Three Gorges brand and insufficient maintenance and development.

The second issue is insufficient interconnectivity. The "last mile" problem of entering scenic spots in our city is still quite prominent. Most of the scenic spots in various districts and counties are not connected to each other, and have not formed a whole, which seriously affects the deep tourism of the Three Gorges.

Thirdly, the brand image is incomplete. Due to the long-term focus on sightseeing tourism, the image of Three Gorges tourism has gradually been fixed on traditional landscape viewing, and its brand image has remained unchanged for many years, with a single image.

Fourthly, smart tourism is not strong. Overall, the construction of smart tourism in our city is still in a state of government enthusiasm, multiple pilot projects, and enterprise coldness.

Fifth, the comprehensive benefits are not high. At present, the majority of tourists in our city are transit tourists, with short stays and insufficient per capita tourism consumption. The tourism economy is basically a "ticket economy".

In order to further create a new economic growth point for tourism and effectively upgrade the high-quality of the Three Gorges International Golden Tourism Belt with new charm, the Municipal Political Consultative Conference Liaison Committee calls for accelerating the implementation of the Yangtze River Three Gorges Golden Tourism Belt Loop Plan, actively striving to elevate the development of Yangtze River Three Gorges tourism from a municipal strategy to a national strategy, and achieving unified planning, construction, and marketing of Three Gorges tourism.

At the same time, actively building a large transportation pattern. Accelerate the construction of the Dawan, Yuxi, and Zhengwan high-speed railways, and start the construction of the Yangtze River Railway and Dawan Railway double track (via Kaizhou) as soon as possible. Accelerate the construction of the Wanzhou to Wushan South section of the Yangtze River Expressway, and achieve rapid connectivity between Tanzhangxia, Longgang, Tiankeng Dijian, and Shennuxi scenic areas. Upgrade the tourism terminal and improve the supporting facilities for docking large luxury cruise ships.

Jointly promote the overall construction of the tourism market. Strengthen cooperation between Chongqing and Hubei provinces, continue to deepen the Chongqing Hubei rotating chairman meeting system for tourism cooperation in the Three Gorges region of the Yangtze River, redesign and launch boutique tourism routes with Three Gorges characteristics, and connect tourist attractions (points) along the Three Gorges and in the heart of the area into a line and a cluster, thereby achieving regional linkage effects. Each district and county along the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River should improve the joint decision-making system for major tourism development issues, plans, and projects in accordance with the requirements of the Three Gorges tourism, and regularly study and plan the development of the Three Gorges tourism.

We should write a great article on smart tourism. Make full use of the advantages of big data analysis, cloud computing and mobile Internet and other high-tech technologies to build a smart tourism platform for the Three Gorges Golden Tourism Belt, which includes the integration of tourism big data application system, smart tourism management, marketing, experience, service and distribution. Fully mobilize the enthusiasm of enterprises, with governments at all levels and upstream and downstream enterprises playing their respective roles, to achieve coordinated operation of the industrial chain upstream and downstream, and jointly promote the construction of smart tourism. Promote the establishment of an integrated joint training system of "national city district scenic area (enterprise)" to provide strong talent support for the construction of smart tourism.

In addition, the brand image of Three Gorges tourism should be continuously enriched. Centered around the goal positioning of "City of Mountains and Rivers, Beautiful Land" and the value positioning of "Traveling Thousands of Miles, Reaching the Vast", highlighting the theme of "Magnificent Yangtze River, Poetry and Painting Three Gorges", further enhancing the tourism brand image of each district and county on the ring road. Create a group of tourism festivals with international influence, promoting a new atmosphere, new actions, and new feelings of image enhancement, product enhancement, market expansion, linkage, and development driven by festivals.

Huang Bing believes that relevant districts and counties should further promote the development of comprehensive tourism. Exploring innovative tourism economic models based on the characteristics of the landscape, improving the overall supporting factors of the tourism industry, and transforming the tourism industry from a single independent model to an integrated and win-win model through the "tourism+" multi-point flowering, focusing on cultivating and strengthening the tourism real economy, and transforming the "ticket economy" into comprehensive benefits.

News source: Chongqing Morning Post