On the morning of April 12th, China National Tourism Administration held the press conference on “China Tourism Day”, deciding the date of May 19th to be “China Tourism Day” from the year 2011.

Zhu Shanzhong, Vice-Chairman of China National Tourism Administration, noted on the press conference that establishment of “China Tourism Day” is the implementation of specific requirement of the Opinions of the State Council on Speeding up the Development of the Tourism Industry ( GuoFa [2009] No.41), demonstrating the considerable attention to the tourism work and development by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, reflecting the recognition by all works of life that tourism could promote economic development, human civilization and health, showing the new expectations of the people for the tourism life during this new period, marking China’s tourism industry is stepping into a new era during which the increasing tourism demand of the people could be better satisfied.

Zhu Shanzhong said that as the people’s living standard continuously ascends, China has entered into a popular tourism age. Establishing the “China Tourism Day” is of significant importance. First, it is conducive to increasing people’s tourism consciousness, giving better play to the tourism function of “education during the tour”, and promoting the increase of people’s civilization quality. Second, it is helpful to promote the continuity and development of China’s excellent culture through the tourism channel. Third, it is helpful to promote attention and emphasis on the development of tourism by all works of life, to continuously optimize the environment for tourism development, actively promote tourism consumption, and advance the tourism industry to become a strategic pillar industry, driving the development of the tertiary sector and serving the strategic adjustment and transformation of the development pattern of the national economy. The establishment of “China Tourism Day” is a big event closely related with millions of people.

Zhu Shanzhong introduced that the work of establishing “China Tourism Day” has experienced three phases of collecting resolution, organizing demonstration and submitting for approval since the official launch on December 4th, 2009. During that period, China National Tourism Administration received in total 11 proposals and draft resolutions from representatives of the National People’s Congress, and members of the CPPCC in 2010, 150 letters from party and government departments at various levels and individuals, and solicited 918,000 valid responses from Sina.com.cn. China National Tourism Administration also held multiple expert consulting conferences, collecting opinions from experts in the culture, sports, folk customs, tourism and leisure sectors, and opinions from the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, the General Administration of Sport of China and the All China Federation of Trade Unions. After receiving related material, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council further collected opinions from 17 ministries and commissions, and 6 local governments. On April 10th, 2011, the State Council issued the official reply via the document of the State Council Letter (2011) No.42, approving the date of May 19th (the starting date of Xu Xiake’s Travelogue) to be “China Tourism Day” from the year 2011.

Zhu Shanzhong noted that setting the date of May 19th, the starting date of Xu Xiake’s Travelogue, to be “China Tourism Day” is of close relation in terms of cultural implication. Xu Xiake is a great traveler, geographer, historian and litterateur in the Ming Dynasty. Xu Xiake’s Travelogue is not only a well-known geographic book with systematic studies on China’s landforms and geology, but also a significant tourism masterwork with description of China’s landscapes, with far-reaching influences both at home and abroad. The date is of universality for tourism in terms of time. During that period, most China is just experiencing the middle or late spring, which is a golden season for traveling. Also extensive consensus is reached about the date among government departments, representatives of the People’s Congress, members of the CPPCC, experts, scholars and the public. There is also practical foundation for it. In recent years, the cities on the “Xu Xiake Tourism Belt” have formed the “China Tourism Xiake League”, launching various commemorating activities on May 19th.
 
Zhu Shanzhong noted that he hopes all works of life can pay close attention and offer support to the day of publicity, promotion and development with all people participating and benefiting, to facilitate people to jointly share the fruits of the tourism development, to truly enjoy the happiness and health while traveling, to make travel one of the key options of the people, and to make it play a more positive role in the all-round-way development of the people and the building of a harmonious society!

As is reported, the activities for the first “China Tourism Day” this year are in process. Next, China National Tourism Administration and the whole tourism industry will carry out follow-up work well in accordance with the requirements of conferences of the State Council Standing Committee. Extensive collection of logo and slogan of “China Tourism Day” will be carried out, and the publicity will be launched for the public. Activities for the first “China Tourism Day” will be arranged. Measures for promoting the normalized development of “China Tourism Day” activities will be studied and formulated.

On the press conference, media reporters presented to the spokesperson questions related with the Tourism Day. After the conference, Zhu Shanzhong, Vice-Chairman of China National Tourism Administration, and Zhang Jianzhong, spokesperson of China National Tourism Administration and Director of the Department of Comprehensive Coordination, were interviewed by the press.