Tourists visiting the Orange Isle Scenic Area in Changsha

Both doing good deeds and looking to the future. A year of hard work has finally been transformed into brilliant achievements on the report card. The province received over 700 million tourists throughout the year, and tourism revenue exceeded 1 trillion yuan.

1 trillion yuan is a landmark milestone. How did Hunan's cultural tourism achieve this?

With goals in mind and strength in our steps.

Hunan's cultural tourism reaching the trillion-yuan milestone was not easily achieved, nor was it accomplished overnight. It was achieved step by step, with strategy and tactics.

The strategic goal of "building a world-class tourist destination by 2035" has set the direction, outlined the blueprint, and fostered consensus for tourism development across the province.

Tactics such as creating "five famous business cards" and continuously holding provincial tourism development conferences have provided a handle for the development of the province's cultural tourism industry. Further support through financial resources, human resources, and policies has allowed the cultural tourism industry to move forward "fully fueled and charged."

The Nanyueli Cultural Tourism Complex showcases the beauty of ancient style and charm.

"Hengyang tourism is truly thriving now!" Recently, a netizen "H Shao" who visited Nanyueli had their impression of Hengyang tourism "subverted."

The value of the tourism development conference is still rising.

As the host city of the third provincial tourism development conference, Hengyang arranged 18 key observation projects, driving the implementation of 68 "cultural tourism revitalizing cities" projects, signing and attracting 19 major cultural tourism projects with a total investment of 18 billion yuan, and comprehensively upgrading 25 major scenic spots. The cultural tourism formats have also become richer and more three-dimensional.

In 2024, Hengyang received a total of 74,763,700 domestic and foreign tourists, with a growth rate of 20.34%; tourism revenue reached 76.447 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 18.31%.

Tourists playing in the Baoweili Cultural and Creative Street District in Zhuhui District, Hengyang City

Li Aiwu, Deputy Director of the Provincial Propaganda Department, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Provincial Culture and Tourism Department, and Director, introduced that Hunan signed 456 cultural tourism projects with an investment of over 10 million yuan last year, with funds in place totaling 1.3373 billion yuan, and attracted 37 projects from "three categories of top 500 companies" or China's top 20 tourism companies. The industrial doubling plan has made Hunan's cultural tourism industry chain increasingly stronger.

Hengyang tourism has thrived, and Chenzhou, the host city of the second provincial tourism development conference, has also reached a new level. It is estimated that Chenzhou's tourism visits in 2024 exceeded 78 million, and tourism revenue was around 81 billion yuan, with year-on-year growth of 12% and 11%, respectively.

Tourists playing in the Gaoyiling Tourist Area in Suxian District, Chenzhou City

Mangshan was rated as one of the first batch of "World Famous Tourism Mountains," Rucheng was rated as "China's Best Hot Spring Health and Tourism Resort Destination," and three provincial-level industrial tourism demonstration sites... Numerous honors were received. In the "sports + tourism" sector, Chenzhou has accelerated its pace, with events and competitions such as the "Lin Dan Cup," Chenzhou Marathon, NBL pre-season games, and Feitianshan Music Festival strongly attracting tourists, bringing in over 100,000 tourists to Chenzhou.

Zhangjiajie is also becoming increasingly high-end and sophisticated, hosting the International Health and Tourism Industry Conference, continuously holding the World Wingsuit Flying Championship, introducing the Asian All-Star Concert, and the Strawberry Music Festival... The city's tourist reception volume and tourism revenue in 2024 increased by 9.5% and 10%, respectively.

The 2024 World Wingsuit Flying Championship held in Zhangjiajie

More importantly, from undertakings to industries, from economy to people's livelihood, from urban and rural landscapes to the image of cadres, from market structure to social enthusiasm, the achievements of high-quality development of Hunan's cultural tourism industry are fully reflected in various fields, and the effect of hosting events to revitalize cities is significant.

In 2024, the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism's entire system received over 100 national-level honors and made an exchange speech at the National Tourism Development Conference, the first time the Party Central Committee held a conference themed on tourism development.

"Culture + Tourism" creating diverse experiences,

During his inspection of Hunan in March 2024, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed two "integration propositions," and the integration of culture and tourism has once again set off a new wave, with "culture + tourism" taking off.

National tide music evenings, intangible cultural heritage grand events, Hanfu parades, poetry competitions... During this year's New Year's Day holiday, Changde Hejie launched 9 activities, each full of cultural flavor. Since taking off with the wings of cultural and tourism integration, Changde Hejie has begun to "take tourists flying." In 2024, the total passenger flow of Hejie reached 10 million, a year-on-year increase of 138%; the total turnover of the street area reached 770 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 154%.

Changde Hejie at night, glittering and splendid

In addition to focusing on cultural empowerment, Hunan's cultural tourism also adheres to innovation while upholding the right principles. "We always regard 'youthful power in cultural tourism' as our core competitiveness and winning the favor of young people as our direction of effort, cultivating more new formats, new consumption, and new ways of playing that are technologically advanced and fashionable." Li Aiwu introduced.

In the past year, Hunan has launched a number of new products such as low-altitude flight, water sports, self-driving camping, forest health preservation, and performing arts and entertainment, and has assessed 200 new generation and new scenarios for cultural and tourism consumption, and 85 demonstration bases for new cultural and tourism formats in Hunan; introduced and cultivated Jay Chou concerts, "Factory BA," Z1 unmanned driving challenges, and other performing arts and sports products that are widely popular among young people.

2024 Zhuzhou "Factory BA" inaugural match

In 2024, Xiangtan attracted 432,400 teachers and students to participate in the "My Shaoshan Trip" research and study activity, allowing them to experience red culture. This spurred 902,900 people to participate in social research and study activities, resulting in a total of 1,335,300 people visiting Shaoshan for research and study, a year-on-year increase of 72.34% compared to 2023. "The research and study activity has achieved remarkable results, with students benefiting, parents satisfied, and society recognizing its value." said Xiang Yan, director of the Shaoshan Ideological and Political Education Practice Center.

"I want to bring to life every representative figure of Hunan culture, making them vivid, lively, and interesting." Director Li Yan's continuous exploration of Hunan culture gave birth to the tourism performance "Peach Blossom River Bamboo Sea Fantasy" in 2024. It showcases a different side of Qu Yuan in a way that appeals to young people. This performance was also selected for the "New Generation, New Scene" of tourism consumption. Since its premiere in September 2024, it has received nearly 38,000 visitors, generating nearly 3.5 million yuan in revenue and driving 10 million yuan in peripheral consumption. "This achievement has surprised us greatly, and we look forward to even greater success in the new year!" said Cai Huan, the company's director, excitedly.

Performance scene of "Peach Blossom River Bamboo Sea Fantasy"

Relying on the world's tallest Tujia stilt house-style architecture, Zhangjiajie's Seventy-two Wonderful Buildings Scenic Area has remained extremely popular since its opening. In 2024, it received 2 million visitors and generated over 110 million yuan in revenue. Among these visitors, over 330,000 were international tourists.

The unique landscape, combined with rich and trendy new industries, has made Zhangjiajie the top choice for inbound tourism in Hunan. In 2024, Zhangjiajie received over 1.83 million inbound tourists, a year-on-year increase of 166.3%; Zhangjiajie port handled 532,000 inbound and outbound passengers, ranking first among non-provincial capital cities in central and western China. Zhangjiajie's inbound tourism generated US$1.008 billion in revenue for the year, a year-on-year increase of 504.3%.

Tourists playing in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

In 2024, Hunan province received 3.224 million inbound tourists, a year-on-year increase of 187.7%, and inbound tourists spent a total of US$161,671,900, a year-on-year increase of 456.5%.

Hunan's tourism and culture is popular with both Chinese and foreign visitors.

Blurred inscriptions become clear, difficult ancient texts are explained, and visitors transform into ancient literati and scholars touring the eight scenic spots of Yu Xi… On December 6, 2024, the Cliff Inscription Digital Museum opened in Yu Xi Stele Forest in Qiyang, Yongzhou, with AI curator Yuan Jie enthusiastically introducing his treasured "check-in" destinations to visitors from all over.

Cliff Inscription Digital Museum

Behind the interactive and experiential new tourism scenes is the precise restoration of cliff inscription texts using advanced digital technology. Interactive screens and holographic projections allow tourists to experience the charm of Chinese cliff inscription culture.

Our province is deeply promoting the integration of "culture + technology." Through the implementation of the "six major projects" for the protection and utilization of cultural relics and the construction of digital museums, we are bridging the gap between the cultural relics industry and the public.

The dreamlike "Life Art—Mawangdui Han Dynasty Culture Immersive Digital Exhibition," the stunning dynamic restoration exhibition of Mawangdui "One Thought, Xin Zhui's Dream," and the "Digital Han Life" cultural and creative products… Hunan Provincial Museum is becoming increasingly popular with its "most eye-catching digital museum." The digital cultural relics platform "Shanhai" App's digital collection efficiency is 10 times that of traditional methods, with peak daily active users exceeding 700,000.

Life Art—Mawangdui Han Dynasty Culture Immersive Digital Exhibition

Empowered by technology, the cultural industry is accelerating its iteration and upgrading. You can easily shoot stars, deserts, and snow-capped mountains indoors; by inputting a few words, the system automatically generates a short video on the corresponding theme in 3 minutes… Malanshan Video Cultural and Creative Industry Park has introduced more than 3,800 upstream and downstream enterprises, including Huawei and iQiyi, forming a digital cultural industry chain covering creativity, content production, storage, broadcasting, and trading. It has also established more than ten research and innovation platforms, such as video supercomputing.

Culture and technology nourish each other. Industries that were once considered "high-cold" due to their high level of professionalism have become lively and interesting, gaining popularity. New cultural formats are flourishing, adding color to life and value to the industry.