Pingyao county in central Shanxi province was recognized as a 2019 China Influential Tourism County at the recent 7th Annual Meeting of China Tourism Industry in Hainan province.

From January to November in 2019, Pingyao county received 17.38 million tourists, for a year-on-year increase of 14.12 percent and generated tourism revenue of 20.5 billion yuan ($2.95 billion), up 16.20 percent on the previous year.

The county carried out a number of tourism projects with other companies and institutes over the past year, officials said. 

These included a tourism train project in cooperation with CRRC Corporation, a helicopter air tour and general aviation project in cooperation with HNA Group and Pingyao International Convention and Exhibition Center project in cooperation with Huishang Group.

In addition, Tianlu Lake Hot Spring, Laoxishui Town and Shuanglin Temple landscape improvement projects were advanced, which will add considerably to the tourist offerings in the Ancient City of Pingyao.

In recent years, Pingyao county has successfully created a series of high-profile cultural tourism events such as Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao International Film Festival and Sculpture Projects Ping Yao. 

Officials said these have greatly increased the popularity of Pingyao county and played an important role in balancing out off-peak tourist seasons and promoting the region's overall industrial transformation and upgrade.

The 7th Annual Meeting of China Tourism Industry examined and summarized the development achievements of the national tourism industry in 2019, and looked forward to the development in 2020 -- through general discussions, the release of the annual report, project promotions and business negotiations.  

The 2019 China Influential Tourism County was selected through online public voting, data analysis and evaluation by experts who examined such aspects as diversity and the characteristics of local tourism resources and products, as well as the status of the country's tourism industry status, its tourism development, environmental protection and reputation of its tourist brand.