The Tourism Development Conference of Shandong 2022 opened in Jining, Shandong province on June 26, with the goal of fueling growth of the local cultural tourism industries.

The conference is designed as a high-level and distinctive tourism event to continuously enhance Shandong's international and domestic appeal.

Zhou Naixiang, governor of Shandong, introduced cultural tourism resources of Shandong province at the opening ceremony and highlighted that the conference will promote high-quality development of cultural tourism industries despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The province is an important cradle of Chinese civilization and the birthplace of Confucian culture. It is also home to rich and diverse tourism and cultural resources, said Zhou, adding that the conference will help boost the confidence of the cultural tourism market and strengthen new drivers for high-quality development of the cultural tourism industry in Shandong.

Rustam Kobilov, deputy governor of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, also emphasized the role that the conference will play in accelerating the recovery of the cultural tourism industry via an online video at the conference.

"With the impact of the pandemic, international cultural exchanges, cooperation and international tourism promotion are facing unprecedented difficulties," he said, adding that the conference showed Shandong's determination to continuously strengthen tourism cooperation and partnerships.

Lin Hongyu, Party secretary of Jining, promoted Jining's profound cultural and tourism resources. According to Lin, Jining has a number of cultural relic sites including the Confucian Mansion, Confucian Temple and the Cemetery of Confucian Family that were chosen by UNESCO as world cultural heritage sites in 1994.

Agreements for 12 cultural and tourism projects with an investment of 46.9 billion yuan ($7.02 billion) were signed for Jinan, Qingdao, Zibo, Jining and other cities during the opening ceremony.

A strategic cooperation agreement was signed between the Network of International Culturalink Entities and the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism in an effort to promote international communication and Shandong's culture and tourism.

The Tourism Development Conference of Shandong 2022 opens in Jining, Shandong province on June 26. [Photo by Fang Xiangang/Dazhong Daily]

Foreign guests attend the Tourism Development Conference of Shandong 2022. [Photo by Fang Xiangang/Dazhong Daily]