Zhangjiajie strives toward the goal of world-class tourist destination

Known for its beautiful landscapes, Zhangjiajie has become more famous, with its overseas visitor sources covering 133 countries and regions around the world, and its overseas visitor flow ranking first among non-capital cities in central China for six consecutive years.

At present, Zhangjiajie will set 2023 as the year of full recovery of tourism, and will make good use of the lasting effect of the first Hunan Tourism Development Conference to create a world-class tourist destination.

Organizing a conference will promote the development of a city. At present, the Zhangjiajie’s first provincial tourism development conference continues to exert its effect, helping accelerate the robust recovery of tourism. In January this year, the four major scenic spots of Zhangjiajie received more than 950,000 visitors, an increase of 245.28% over the highest in 2019.

Liu Ge’an introduced the opening of the Changde-Yiyang-Changsha High-Speed Railway has made Zhangjiajie an important node city on the province’s high-speed railway and Chongqing - Xiamen corridor, injecting strong momentum into Zhangjiajie’s economic development. This year, Zhangjiajie has set the target of regional GDP growth at around 7.5%, and the number of tourist reception and tourism revenue to be increased by about 40% respectively.

Liu Ge’an, secretary of the Zhangjiajie Municipal Party Committee, said, “Zhangjiajie City started with tourism and will rely on tourism to prosper in the future. To be the leader of the province’s tourism, we need to innovate tourism products, enrich tourism forms, promote crossover of tourism, develop a tourism industry chain, and enhance the added value and quality benefits of the tourism industry. To insist on the goal of building a tourist-friendly, livable, international tourism city, we should strive to make every building and every road a beautiful scenery, every village full of a unique flavor, with careful plan, construction, management and presentation.”

In 2022, Zhangjiajie’s first provincial tourism conference laid out 546 projects with a total investment of 70.883 billion yuan, and 110 projects have been completed so far.

Liu Ge’an noted that Zhangjiajie will focus on promoting the construction of Sangzhi–Longshan Expressway, Luhongshan–Cili Expressway and Zhangjiajie–Guanzhuang Expressway this year.

At the same time, the development of key industrial projects such as the Nongfu Spring water resources development project, the Qixing Mountain Tourist Resort, and the auto and motorcycle accessories industrial park will be progressing to provide a strong foundation for the regional economy with industrial development.

Liu Ge’an said, “At present, we are actively seeking national and provincial support for the early start of the Shimen-Zhangjiajie High-speed Railway, pushing the early approval of the second phase of the renovation and expansion of Hehua International Airport, the inclusion of the Chongshan Mountain pumping and energy storage project in the provincial plan, and the listing of the Yichongqiao reservoir project as a national construction project. We should seize the window period of national policies and make precise efforts for projects, investment and stable growth, in a bid to sustain the stability of economic development with the progress of project construction.”

This year, Zhangjiajie will also step up efforts to create a national high-tech zone, a well-coordinated zone of Hunan Free Trade Zone. At the same time, it will also vigorously develop the big data industry and big health industry, coordinate the efforts to promote green energy, green buildings, green transportation, green communities and green finance to maximize the ecological potential of Zhangjiajie. In addition, Zhangjiajie will vigorously develop the port economy this year and contribute Zhangjiajie's strength to promote the overall pattern of coordinated regional development in the province.

Liu Ge’an said, “Zhangjiajie boasts the only national first-class aviation port in the Wuling Mountain Area, and has three designated ports of entry for fruits, chilled aquatic products and aquatic animals. We should vigorously develop the port economy and the airborne industry, striving to build Zhangjiajie into an international air port hub in the Wuling Mountain Area, an international tourist distribution centre, international tourism commodities distribution centre, thus making contribution to Hunan’s effort to create a highland of reform and opening up in inland areas.”