The city of Hechi in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region saw a strong revival in its cultural tourism industry in 2020, which also led to a boost in local socio-economic development.

It is estimated that the city received a total of 34.46 million domestic tourists in 2020, which is 76.71 percent of the 2019 level, while spending by domestic tourists in 2020 reached 42.5 billion yuan ($6.55 billion), amounting to 77.53 percent of the 2019 level.

Hechi ranked top in the region in terms of overall tourist numbers and in its recovery rate of total tourism consumption in the first three quarters in 2020.

Hechi has pushed forward supply-side structural reforms of the cultural tourism industry, driven by the implementation of regular COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures. Relevant government departments have held tourism promotion fairs in 13 cities in Guangxi and five other provinces or municipalities, including Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei and Chongqing.

All 52 A-level scenic areas and 44 rural tourism areas in Hechi had reopened by the end of December 2020, while 52 starred tourist restaurants and 30 travel agencies had also resumed operations.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hechi has put eight of its tourist attractions, including Miluotuo Cultural Park, into the list of national 4A scenic areas.

The COVID-19 pandemic also spawned a series of new travel demands and new tourism models, such as rehabilitation travel, suburban travel, parent-child travel and self-driving travel. Hechi invested 942 million yuan in a total of 34 major rehabilitation and cultural tourism projects in 2020.