Guizhou launches raft of policies to boost tourism

The Guizhou Provincial Development and Reform Commission – located in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province – recently launched 13 policies and measures to promote the region's tourism sector, according to local media reports.

The policies and measures are focused on attracting new market players and upgrading existing ones, upgrading business forms, improving the quality of services and revitalizing idle and low-performance projects.

Guizhou province plans to boost market players through several initiatives. It will increase the value-added tax threshold for small-scale taxpayers in the tourism sector from monthly sales of 100,000 yuan ($15,470) to 150,000 yuan, while it will also roll out preferential policies and reductions in tax for small and micro- enterprises and individual businesses.

For newly recognized tourism enterprises above a designated size – those with annual sales of 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) or more – the province will give a one-time grant of 100,000 yuan. It will support tourism companies listing on the share markets and will identify about eight leading provincial-level tourism companies annually, offering them priority support in terms of funding.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the province will develop a group of qualified cultural tourism characteristic towns and offer them support in funds and policies. In terms of urban transformation, the province will also develop a batch of distinctive urban cultural buildings, blocks and brands. A number of provincial-level rural tourism key villages will also be identified every year.

In terms of improving the quality of services, the province will strengthen its price management of scenic spots and improve the overall dynamic pricing and adjustment mechanism for the sector.

In addition, Guizhou will speed up the revitalization of idle and low-efficiency projects, to improve development benefits for the tourism industry. It will also promote construction of tourism infrastructure projects and give them more financial support.