On November 2, the "2021 China’s County-level Tourism Competitiveness Report" was released. The rankings of China’s top 100 counties and county-level cities with comprehensive tourism competitiveness and China’s top 100 counties and county-level cities with tourism development potential in 2021 were released simultaneously. Fenghuang County and Jishou City in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture were included in the list of China’s top 100 counties and county-level cities with comprehensive tourism competitiveness, ranking 22nd and 50th respectively. Yongshun County was selected as one of China’s top 100 counties and county-level cities with tourism development potential, ranking 11th.

The ranking of China’s top 100 counties and county-level cities with comprehensive tourism competitiveness included candidates from 19 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Six counties and county-level cities in Hunan Province made the list. Of the total, Fenghuang County ranked first.

The ranking of China’s top 100 counties and county-level cities with tourism development potential included candidates from 24 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Eight counties and county-level cities in Hunan Province made the list. Of the total, Yongshun County ranked first.

In recent years, the ecological cultural tourism in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture has maintained a "blowout" growth. The Aizhai-Shibadong-Dehang Grand Canyon Scenic Area was upgraded to a national 5A-level tourist attraction. More than 400 world-class and national ecological cultural tourism brands are cultivated.

The "2021 China’s County-level Tourism Competitiveness Report" was jointly released by the China Economic Herald, Beijing Zhongxin Urban Planning and Design Institute, and Competitiveness Think Tanks. It comprehensively reviewed the development of China's county-level tourism in 2020 and completed the fourth evaluation of the national county-level tourism competitiveness. The evaluation of comprehensive competitiveness of China's county-level tourism mainly examines six sub-indexes including tourism resource intensiveness, tourism economic vitality, tourist facilities, ecological environment, effectiveness of government-led practice, and tourism brand reputation. The six sub-indexes were integrated into a main index to evaluate competiveness. China’s top 100 counties and county-level cities with tourism competitiveness were selected based on the competitiveness index. The evaluation of China's county-level tourism development potential mainly examines the development potential of county resources, the potential for market expansion, the potential for basic support, and the potential for government driving. The four sub-indexes were integrated into a development potential index. China's top 100 counties and county-level-cities with tourism development potential were selected based on the development potential indexes.

The report showed that in 2021, the top 100 Chinese counties and county-level cities in tourism achieved an average total tourism revenue of 15.616 billion yuan, which reached 76.5% of the level before the epidemic. The recovery rate was 28.6 percentage points higher than the national total tourism revenue. The average number of tourist arrivals was more than 1.53 million, reaching 79.3% of the level before the epidemic. The recovery rate was 40.4 percentage points higher than the national total tourist arrivals. Tourists spent an average of 1,020 yuan per trip. The ratio of total tourism revenue to the county’s GDP is 60.3% on average, a drop of 31.8 percentage points from before the epidemic. Although some tourism economic indicators have declined significantly, the high-quality development of county-level tourism continues to maintain a good momentum.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn. 

Translator: Xiao Juan 

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn