Rural tourism helps poverty alleviation in China, especially in
poorer provinces with rich ethnic culture, said an official with
the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on
Wednesday.
Tim Bartlett, a consultant at UNWTO, said at the 2006
International Forum on Rural Tourism, that rural tourism is helping
the country's large rural population shake off poverty while not
forcing them to leave homes.
Bartlett, while attending the two-day forum in Guiyang, capital
of Guizhou province, said that provinces like
Guizhou, home to 17 ethnic minorities, have huge potential in
developing rural tourism.
"Its remote mountains have prevented the ethnic population here
from losing their traditions, languages, unique food and
clothing."
More than 200 tourist industry representatives and experts from
16 countries and regions on Wednesday passed the Guiyang
Declaration, which encouraged appropriate usage of ethnic cultural
heritage by promoting the design, production and marketing of
tourism products, of which handicrafts make up the largest
portion.
The declaration also said that while developing tourism in rural
areas is crucial, equal importance should be attached to the
preservation of unique cultural heritages.
UNWTO called for Chinese financial institutions to fund the
development of the new-emerging industry.
The forum, which ended on Wednesday, was organized by the China
National Tourism Administration, the United Nations World Tourism
Organization, the World Bank and the Guizhou provincial
government.
Guizhou was chosen as the forum venue to showcase China's rural
tourism development efforts. It has committed to promoting its
ethnic brand of cultural tourism, its rural diversity and unique
scenic spots. Its emerging rural tourism industry has helped many
impoverished villages shake off poverty.
According to the statistics from China National Tourism
Administration, 70 percent of urban tourists choose rural tourist
destinations during China's three "golden-week" peak travel seasons
in May, October and Spring Festival or China's Lunar New Year. Over
60 million tourists flock to rural tourist spots every such
week.
(Xinhua News Agency September 7, 2006)