Some 400 travel agencies from 28 countries and regions have gathered at the ongoing Overseas Tour Operators Hainan Tour 2024, a week-long event held in south China's tropical Hainan Province to further boost tourism exchanges.
According to organizers, the event aims to launch regional and thematic tourism products and premium travel routes to the international market to foster the high-quality development of China's inbound tourism.
The island has been leveraging its unique geographical location and a large domestic market to position itself as an international tourism consumption destination.
"We have signed contracts with major airline companies, travel agencies, and online platform enterprises in China. Simultaneously, contracts have also been signed between travel agencies from both domestic and international markets. We are expecting to sign contracts with 10 companies during the event. Collaboration between companies is essential to attract more tourists to Hainan," said Chen Tiejun, director of the Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture, Radio, Television and Sports.
Meanwhile, a business representative from Malaysia said she was interested in a new tour route product presented at the event.
"It's quite an unconventional route, as our guests have already taken the usual ones. I want to take them to tourist destinations that are different," Jasline Chen said.
Hainan tourism promotion event attracts 400 travel agencies from 28 countries
E-commerce is helping farmers in the Aksu Prefecture in the landlocked region of Xinjiang in northwest China to overcome geographical obstacles and sell their produce to consumers across the country.
As the westernmost region of China bordering Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Xinjiang is thousands of kilometers away from the eastern markets, a despairing distance for local fruit farmers.
"Our apples [used to] make it to domestic markets through traditional ways. The problem is that they have to be picked before they're ripe because of the long transport time," said Zhou Hu, owner of Aksu Qiguo E-commerce.
Zhou runs a company that sells fruits purchased from local farmers to online consumers in live-streaming shows.
"Previously, it might take five to seven days for the apples to arrive. Now with e-commerce, it takes two to three days," Zhou said.
As the business thrives, Zhou has helped raise the income of local farmers.
"We offer farmers 20 percent more of the total price than traditional buyers. That has a direct impact on farmers," Zhou said.
Seizing the opportunity brought about by e-commerce development, Rizwan Guli Erkin opened a store named Ga Beng Cui Dry Fruit Store on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, to help her parents sell paper shell walnuts.
"The walnuts are grown by my parents. They only know how to grow them but don't know how to sell. So after college I've helped them with sales," she said.
Another one who has spotted this opportunity and returned home to build local businesses is Zheng Haozhe, CEO of the Future Village, an accommodation business in Onsu County of Aksu.
"I went to the U.S. when I was 14. I started from the ninth grade in high school. The U.S. has given me a very good education, but now, I feel very grateful to come back to my country and keep building my country, especially in a border area in the western area where things are not very developed," Zheng said.
E-commerce helps Xinjiang farmers reach markets across China
