Rethinking tourism management

During the National Day holiday from Oct 1 to 7, Pingyao ancient town was besieged by at least 500,000 tourists, which posed a special challenge to the county’s tourism management.

Overcrowding is a common problem during the Golden Week holiday. Tourists can barely enjoy themselves at crowded scenic spots, and lives of local residents are also impacted. One solution is to find ways to distribute tourists more evenly.

“We need to lead tourists away from major spots to other less visited places where there are fewer tourism products. More destinations should be established to attract visitors and increase consumption,” said Hou Shijun, director of Pingyao’s tourism bureau.

Another challenge is traffic in peak seasons thanks to the increasing number of self-driving tourists. According to Hou, effective, modern measures, such as digital bulletin boards or mobile applications, can be used to provide visitors with timely information, such as parking conditions. In the meantime, school playgrounds or other open spaces can be used as temporary parking lots.

“Finding deficiencies can improve work. It is not a short-term cause but a day-to-day, long term battle. Developing the tourism industry quickly and soundly requires an increase in tourists and income,” said Hou.

Edited by Lin Hong and Michael Thai