Shandong to hold high-level tourism event

The 2022 Shandong Tourism Development Conference will be held in the city of Jining, East China's Shandong province, from June 26 to 27, according to a news conference held on June 20.

The opening ceremony of the annual event will be held in Nishan Sacred Land in Qufu, a county-level city in Jining on June 26, and a number of parallel sessions will be hosted the same day in the province's 16 cities.

Sponsors said that the event will carry out themed exhibitions to showcase the achievements the 16 cities have made in the high-quality development of the culture and tourism sector. A series of events featuring cultural tourism activities will also be held at the same time to show visitors the rich cultural resources of Shandong.

Wang Lei, head of the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, said at the news conference that Shandong will release a slew of innovative measures to boost the high-quality development of its culture and tourism sector, such as cultivating a number of industrial leaders, and fostering new business models.

The province will also launch an incubation program in the next three years. By the end of 2025, Shandong will cultivate 100 leading culture and tourism enterprises, 300 backbone enterprises and 600 growth enterprises, according to Wang.

The event will highlight some of Shandong's  key culture and tourism projects including Nishan Sacred Land, the Temple and Cemetery of Confucius, and the Kong Family Mansion, aiming to showcase Shandong's achievements in the culture and tourism sector.

A total of 99 A-level scenic areas in Jining, which is this year's venue of the conference, offer free admission to the public this month. Jining will take this conference as an opportunity to showcase the profound cultural heritage and rich tourism resources in an all-round way, according to a city government official.