Shanxi achieved total tourism revenue of 213.72 billion yuan ($34.97 billion) in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 25.96 percent compared to the same period last year, according to statistics from the Shanxi Tourism Bureau.

An initiative named the “Beautiful Shanxi Recreation Tour” was believed to contribute much to the tourism market this year. The “Beautiful Shanxi Recreational Tour” was an activity that aims to promote the tourism industry with discounted offers. As a result of the activity’s comprehensive effect, Shanxi's domestic tourism market has continued to maintain high-speed growth.

Moreover, the provincial tourism bureau put a lot of importance on expansion of the surrounding market. Led by Feng Jianping, head of the tourism bureau, several delegations were sent to cities like Shandong province's Jinan, Jiangsu province's Nanjing and Zhejiang province's Hangzhou to promote its tourism brand: "Shanxi, A Land of Splendors."

The special holidays in January to September were also driving factors for the first three quarters. For example, Mid-Autumn Day festival from Sept 6 to 8 brought Shanxi tourist volume of 7.2 million and comprehensive tourism revenue of 3.71 billion yuan. Together with World Tourism Day on Sept 27, the tourist volume in these two September holidays accounted for about 31 percent of the total volume in September. The holidays have had a prominent effect on tourism.

At present, however, Shanxi's tourism products still have deficiencies to solve, such as product structure and lack of recreational products, according to the provincial tourism bureau. In order to solve these problems, the tourism authority asks the tourism units at lower levels to diversify tourism products and optimize product structure, enrich tourism activity content and expand the tourism industrial chain in order to meet different tourism needs.

Edited by Michael Thai