Passengers use their ID cards to enter a railway station in Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu Province on December 9, 2022. Starting from December 7, China Railway scrapped the previous requirement for a 48-hour negative nucleic acid result and health code for travel by train. Photo: IC

China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) on Wednesday announced plans to promote the coming tourism season as the New Year holiday and the Spring Festival draw near, including launching a batch of new national-level ski resorts, with an aim to better unleash consumption in the tourism sector.

Local culture and tourism departments will step up efforts to promote the annual longest tourism season from the market demand and supply sides, MCT officials said at a quarterly press conference on Wednesday.

Provinces and cities are encouraged to roll out short-distance tourism products, and national-level resorts, scenic areas and famous rural counties shall properly launch holiday products in line with their individual characteristics, officials said.

A batch of new national-level ski resorts will be established to better guide the development of outdoor leisure sports and other new forms of business. 

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plans to issue more than 50,000 consumption coupons to boost the recovery of the region's winter sports and tourism sector. A tourist agent surnamed Chen told the Global Times on Wednesday that inquiries about group tours to Xinjiang have surged recently, and one of the most popular events is skiing.

"Xinjiang has many great ski resorts with advantages of long snowing period and great snow quality, such as the 12-square-kilometer Silkroad Ski Resort in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region," Chen said.

Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, as one of the core regions of the development of winter sports in China, has seen tourism activities rapidly resuming. According to media reports on Tuesday, searches for travel in the province on online travel platforms have surged 72 percent compared with the previous week.

The MCT also vowed to launch more cultural projects to enrich people's spiritual and cultural lives. On the premise of ensuring the safety and health of the people, various cultural activities such as "village galas", folk performances, and exhibitions will be organized in light of local conditions.

Global Times