The 17th China Huangshan International Tourism Festival and Hui Culture Festival kicked off in Huangshan city, Anhui province, on Nov 17.

A press conference was held by Huangshan authorities to introduce the event. Jointly organized by the Anhui Provincial Bureau of Tourism and Huangshan municipal people’s government, the four-day tourism festival invited nearly 500 representatives from 11 countries and regions, including the United States, Canada, France, South Korea, Russia, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

According to Zhou Tianwei, vice-mayor of Huangshan city, the tourism festival will be composed of five main activities: an opening ceremony on Nov 18, together with the launch of the ninth China Huangshan International Mountaineering Assembly; the second Anhui International Travel Agents Conference; a tourism investment promotion; a tourism real estate fair; and the eighth Huangshan International Photography Exhibition.

From January to September, Anhui province received 2.64 million tourists from home and abroad, a year-on-year increase of 12.04 percent. It realized total tourism revenue of 190.96 billion yuan ($31.34 billion), Zhang Xueping, vice-director of the Anhui Tourism Bureau, reported at the conference.

During the event, numerous traveling salespeople from overseas markets will visit Anhui and seek cooperation with local agencies, which will further promote the internationalization of the tourism industry and expand the province’s influence overseas, Zhang added.

Held 16 times since 1991, the Huangshan International Tourism Festival is the largest, highest-scale activity in Anhui. It is expected to provide fantastic business opportunities.

Zhou Tianwei, vice-mayor of Huangshan city (L2) delivers a speech on the press conference.

By Le Qin

Edited by Michael Thai, Huang Pei