Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region held tourism and culture promotion events at Junpa Fishing Village on the outskirts of the regional capital Lhasa last week, as part of the broader China Tourism Day event.
Organizers said the activities here were aimed at injecting vitality into short-distance travels around Lhasa.
Nagwang, a 33-year-old local fisherman, participated in the event with his traditional cowhide boat.
"When the local tourism project was launched in 2012, the village could only provide traditional cowhide boating activities on the Lhasa River. Now, we can offer various tourism options, such as camping, painting and bonfire dinners," Nagwang said.
Kayaking activities at Junpa Fishing Village, May 2, 2023.
The participating companies also spoke highly of the activities. Pan Huapeng, a representative of a local cultural and tourism company that operates the kayaking and camping project in Junpa, told CGTN that his "company received nearly 1,000 people during the May Day holiday, and more than half of them participated in the kayaking activities."
"We didn't expect that the project would be so popular. Nowadays, there will be tourists to experience the kayaking project every weekend," Pan said, adding that "the project has also brought tangible benefits to the local villagers, promoted the development of the local economy and helped the development of traditional cowhide boating activities in the region."
To attract more tourists to the region, Xizang launched six short-distance travel routes earlier this month to promote rural tourism in villages, according to the regional tourism development department. The routes feature attractions such as rich cultural resources and intangible cultural heritage.
Traditional cowhide boating activities at Junpa Fishing Village, May 2, 2023.
"The Junpa Fishing Village, located adjacent to the urban area of Lhasa and the regional capital's airport, has raked in over 70,000 yuan (about $9,950), thanks to its intangible cultural heritage experience tours since May," said Dondrup, the department's deputy head.
The official echoed that the village's short-distance travel boom has effectively led to an increase in the residents' incomes.
He added that the region has also launched a digital travel card for tourists to experience over 20 famous tourist attractions in Xizang, including Namtso Lake and Norbulingka, a world heritage site.
Xizang received over 2.55 million tourists from home and abroad in the first quarter of this year, a rise of 39.6 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the region's tourism revenue exceeded 2 billion yuan ($290 million), a year-on-year rise of 42.89 percent, local media reported.
During this year's May Day holiday, Xizang received over 1.16 million tourists, with a total tourism revenue of 848 million yuan, up nearly 137 percent and 42.3 percent, respectively, compared with the same period in 2019, indicating that the region's tourism sector is recovering to pre-COVID-19 levels.
In 2023, Xizang will continue to develop its rural tourism and cultivate a number of special and high-quality travel routes with local characteristics, said Wang Xiaodong, head of the regional tourism development department, adding that the region will strive to achieve the goal of receiving 39 million tourists and earning 51 billion yuan in tourism revenue this year.
(All photos courtesy of Pan Huapeng)