The Second China (Sichuan) International Tourism Investment Conference opens in Chengdu Friday.

The event, sponsored by the People’s Government of Sichuan and China Investment Association, is Sichuan’s reaction to China’s Belt and Road initiative, a State Council document on expanding tourism investment and consumption, and the need for the supply-side structural reform.

It is expected to bring more investment for Sichuan’s tourism projects and help the province to develop its tourism industry and become an international tourist destination.

The People’s Government of Sichuan signed agreements for strategic cooperation to develop Sichuan’s tourism industry with China Everbright Group, China CYTS Tours Holding, and a consortium comprising four other Chinese companies respectively.

Sichuan Tourism Board and governments of cities and prefectures of Sichuan signed cooperation agreements with famous investment companies respectively.

Contracts for 19 investment projects, involving 55.6 billion yuan were signed on the spot. Contracts for another 18 projects, involving 23.64 billion yuan, will be signed at the Yibin venue of the event.

A select catalogue of Sichuan’s tourism projects available for investment is published at the conference. The catalogue comprises eight major cross-region groups of similar tourism projects, thirty key provincial projects and one hundred other quality projects. The eight groups of similar tourism projects, involving panda watching, relics parks along National Roads 318/317, China’s most scenic road, and ski resorts among other themes, are designed to cater to the growing popularity of self-driving tours and self-guided tours and to the fact that more and more Chinese people are travelling.

The eight groups integrate Sichuan’s most competitive and distinctive tourism resources by breaking geographical and jurisdictional boundaries. In future investment, a holistic approach will be adopted for each group instead of dealing with every single scenic spot or tourist site separately. The approach will be a major innovation in the effort to upgrade the tourism industry in both Sichuan and across the nation as well as in the shift to develop region-based tourism.

At the conference, China’s first two provincial Public-Private-Partnerships for public tourism service facilities were announced.

Luke Riley, Senior Vice President of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group International from Australia,?gave suggestions on?how to make full use of the advantage of Chinese leisure and tourist spots. Emmanuel Brusq, President of PVCP China, talked about theinvestment opportunities in the niche market of juant in Europe and China. Zhang Lijun, President of China CYTS Tours Holding Co., and Zhang Hui, Board Chairman of Cybernaut, discussed how to create an environment for the region-based tourism industry from the perspectives of technology, capital, innovation and entrepreneurship. Liu Yonghao, the helmsman of New Hope, offered his incisive views on how to adjust investment in the era of region-based tourism. Zhang Chunyuan, Vice President of Wanda Culture and President of Wanda Tourism Holding, offered his suggestion on how to innovatively build?a world’s top rate complex for tourism and cultural experiences.

The Mediterranean Sea Club from France and local companies like Sichuan Railway Investment Group and Sichuan Energy Investment Group became new investors in Sichuan’s tourism development at the conference.