The Hefei Tourism Bureau this year is focusing on promoting the development of clusters in rural tourism, and the development of six key towns will lead the entire project.

Rural tourism has become an extremely popular option for tourists in Hefei over the last few years. The efforts to integrate the development of rural areas with tourism have gone well. Over the last year, rural areas havereceived over one quarter of the city's total number of tourists. In 2013 alone, three five-star and thirteen four-star farmsteads were newly opened, with the total number of star-level farm visits reaching 162.

Some small villages with rich resources and bold, innovative movements have become the "star" rural destinations of Hefei. For instance, the Dongqu Food Culture Village of Thirty Gang village, Luyang city district now has 41 hotels and 22 travel agencies. The Niujiao embankment tourism demonstration zone received 160 thousand tourists in seven days after its opening during the last National Day holiday.

This year, the rural tourism development of Hefei will be concentrating on standardization. An evaluation criterion for rural tourism demonstration villages will be introduced to achieve a standardization scale and to promote the overall quality of rural destinations. Six villages are listed as key development spots, and they are expected to have a demonstration effect for that of other villages.

Fine food and accommodation have always been the major expectations of tourists on rural trips. This year, Hefei will make significant efforts to promote the environment and safety conditions of farm stay hotels. Standards for three-star level hotels will be implemented in some of the city's farmsteads.