Kunming Takes Measures to Push Forward Healthy Development of Its Tourism Industry

The sixth meeting of the 14th People's Congress Standing Committee of Kunming held a joint meeting on Dec. 21th, asking about the advancement of the tourism industry. The meeting reveals that Kunming works hard to push forward the healthy development of the tourism industry by taking lots of measures, including strengthening the construction of tourism transportation facilities, guiding the industry to transform and upgrade, strengthening the rectification of the order of the tourism market, building up smart tourism, developing rural tourism, overhauling the tourism poverty alleviation model, creating food tourism products and so on.

Kunming is an important gateway of China to the South Asia and Southeast Asia regions. It is introduced that Kunming Changshui International Airport has opened more flights routes and multiple Kunming high-speed railway lines are already in operation. These changes have provided favorable conditions for Yunnan to quicken its steps to help Kunming become a renowned international tourism city through South Asia and Southeast Asia countries and then to Europe and North America and the surrounding markets.

It is understood that Kunming will open up more areas of its tourism industry to the rest of the world, fully utilize its resources as an international friendly city, and continuously strengthen its collaboration with South Asia and Southeast Asia. Kunming will actively work together with Yunnan province to launch and establish Lancang River and Mekong River Tourism City Collaboration Alliance, to strengthen its connection with international tourism cities, and to fully push forward its collaboration with World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

In addition, Kunming will also carry out targeted tourism marketing, make plans to prepare and set up the Toronto Marketing Center and Paris Marketing Center, take advantage of its overseas collaborators’ marketing networks to strengthen its expansion to the major overseas tourist source markets, and put into effect more specific targeted marketing strategies for international tourist source markets.

The accelerated construction of its transportation infrastructure also provides strong support for the healthy development of Kunming’s tourism industry. According to the people responsible for Kunming Transport Bureau, the expressway mileage in Kunming has already reached 710 km, and there are 24 trunk lines (km) that go through Kunming and into the whole Yunnan province. Six lines stretch to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shantou etc., and four lines, currently being built, lead to Vietnam, Laos, Burma etc.