2020 Shandong Tourism Development Conference opens in Jinan

The 2020 Shandong Tourism Development Conference and the First China International Culture and Tourism Expo opened on Sep 16 in Jinan, East China's Shandong province.

Liu Jiayi, Party secretary of Shandong, said at the opening ceremony that as the tourism industry gradually recovers, the province has launched nine policies to integrate development of culture and tourism.

The policies include constructing representative destinations that combine tourism with healthcare, building a platform of international cooperation for culture and tourism development and launching favorable programs to bring convenience to tourists and residents.

"Shandong has a long history, profound cultural heritage, rich tourism resources, and its overall scale of tourism development ranks among the top in the country," said Duan Qiang, chairman of the World Tourism Alliance. "The alliance will actively support Shandong's tourism industry development, deepen cooperation with the province in areas including new product development, publicity, market promotion and international exchanges."

At the opening ceremony, the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism signed a strategic cooperation agreement with technology giants and online travel agencies such as Tencent, Alibaba, Ctrip and Meituan.

The province issued measures in March and allocated a fund of 20 million yuan ($2.96 million) to support key cultural and tourism projects, and in the first half of this year has distributed 129 million yuan worth of vouchers to the public applicable to cultural and tourism products.