Region to mix history, culture to create momentum

The first Sichuan Culture and Tourism Development Convention, to be held on April 29 in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, is expected to inject new momentum into the integration of culture and tourism in Sichuan with the releases of a series of new policies and measures.

As one of the highlights, the list of the first 10 Tianfu Tourism Counties will be announced at the convention.

The Tianfu Tourism Counties project, sponsored by Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, is a key measure for the province to promote the integration of culture and tourism at the county-level, and thus improve the overall quality of Sichuan's tourism.

Each county named as a Tianfu Tourism County will receive a provincial financial incentive of 30 million yuan ($ 4.5 million), according to the department of culture and tourism.

In five years, the province is scheduled to build 50 Tianfu Tourism Counties with distinctive features, strong industrial strength, excellent business environment, perfect service facilities, as well as a great reputation at home and abroad, the department said.

Hong Qinghua, founder of online travel agency Lvmama and chairman of Jingyu Group, pointed out that Sichuan is already a big tourism destination, with each of the Tianfu Tourism Counties able to play an important role in further improvements.

"Many places in Sichuan have good cultural and tourism resources, but if you want to transform the resources into a value-creating IP, you must combine cultural creativity, strong planning, and strong operations," he said, adding that it is necessary to give full play to the diverse and rich cultural and tourism resources of Sichuan.

Hong said each of the Tianfu Tourism Counties should be developed into an IP of Sichuan tourism, and the various elements of the tourism industrial chain should work together to build Sichuan into a world-class tourist destination.

Xin Hongye, deputy director of the Information Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said the construction of a Tianfu Tourism County should be tailored to local conditions, that is, to solve the county's problems with its own resources, rather than copying others.