【Summit Senior Figures Interview】Interview with Guo Dongxia, Deputy Director of Mudanjiang Tourism Bureau: Joining WTCF is Both an Opportunity and a Challenge for Mudanjiang

GuoDongxia, Deputy Director of Mudanjiang Tourism Bureau, said that ecological and ice and snow tourism are the competitive, advantageous tourism resources for Heilongjiang Province and Mudanjiang to develop the tourism industry. Depending on its abundant tourism resources, Mudanjiang has made a difference in developing the tourism industry. Ecological tourism is the staple in summer and Mudanjiang has created a famous ecological summer resort, while as the “City of Snow,” Mudanjiang will launch a series of ice and snow tourism products in winter. The Harbin-Yabuli-Snow Land Golden Icy tourism route has stretched to Mudanjiang, which has seen the creation of second Snow Land, International Ice & Snow Tourism Resort, and International Snowy Forest Tourism Resort.

Mudanjiang is a famous China-Russia tourism border town with a forest coverage rate of 68%. There are nine national forest parks within its borders and includes the habitats of Siberian tigers, a rare protected animal in the world. There are also many superior tourism resources such as the World Geopark, which was rated as a national 5A tourist attraction, Jingpo Lake and so on. Mudanjiang was once the red revolution base and carries a lot of brilliant memories. Mudanjiang is the location of the legendary story of “Tracks in The Snowy Forest.” Russia is now the main overseas tourist source market for Mudanjiang, this country attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists to travel to Mudanjiang every year.

"The entry and exit policies that Russia enjoys from Mudanjiang are favorable. Firstly Mudanjiang has reopened the one-time passport for Russia this year and tourists can apply for a one-time passport here with valid identification, which is a convenient measure for customs clearance. Secondly, the diversity of Chinese and Russian culture is a key factor to generate attraction; Russia has shown lots of interest to the cultural tourism products of China. Every year we will develop a series of tourism products to attract them to travel here. In addition, the increasing exchange of economy and trade, scientific research and education between Mudanjiang and Russia promotes the development of tourism industry."

GuoDongxia indicated to reporters that joining WTCF is both an opportunity and a challenge for Mudanjiang as a prefecture-level city and they'll bring out the best resources, products and conditions. During the Tourism Investment Fair held at the Chongqing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit, Mudanjiang brought eight tourism investment projects and five of their financings are valued at over 500 million. GuoDongxia especially recommended the overall development project of Jingpo Lake scenic spot, which is managing to transform the Jingpo Lake from a reception tourism destination into a recreational and ecological tourism destination.

When talking about the “Sharing Economy,” GuoDongxia summarized four characteristics of it: firstly it is a new platform based on internet. Secondly it is a new product that could integrate the recreational and fragmented resources and present them on the Sharing Economy Platform to make the providers directly face customers. Thirdly it is a new trend that could bring subverted effects on traditional economic pattern. Finally, it has new consumer groups of the generations of 80's and 90's, and has gradually spread to 70's.

"As a traveler, I love Sharing Economy very much and the essence of tourism is sharing. Sharing Economy can further enhance the development and prosperity of tourism industry. While on the other hand, Sharing Economy is a non-standardized product, which has posed a regulatory problem to tourism managers, the old laws and regulations may be no longer applicable."

"Concerning the Sharing Economy, I think that first we should treat it with an inclusive, open and liberal attitude. We can't nip it in the bud because it is a new thing that is difficult to regulate. Second, we need to establish a credit system for Sharing Economy, because it is a new thing and we should consider how to improve the legal system so as to regulate it better. Third, we should strengthen the enterprises group of Sharing Economy. For traditional tourism enterprises, we should promote the common prosperity and development of Sharing Economy so that could get their share of Sharing Economy." In addition, governments should lead to establish some new Sharing Economy platforms to promote the development of tourism economy.