Fenghuang County selected among China’s top 100 counties with tourism competitiveness

The 2023 China’s County-Level Tourism Development Competitiveness Report was released at the 2023 Exchange Meeting for High-quality Development of China’s County-level Tourism on November 26. Fenghuang County in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture ranked 20^th on the list of China’s top 100 counties with comprehensive tourism competitiveness in the country and second in the province. Since the award was established in 2018, Fenghuang County has been listed as one of China’s top 100 counties with comprehensive tourism strength for six consecutive years.

Fenghuang, a pearl embedded in Xiangxi, was written by China’s famous writer Shen Congwen in his prose and painted by China’s famous painter Huang Yongyu in his paintings.

The county boasts beautiful natural scenery, an ancient history, profound cultural heritage and numerous celebrities and talents. It’s a national historical and cultural city, and known as the “most beautiful town in China”. Diplomats stationed in China have considered it the “Chinese image imagined by Europeans, and the fairy tale world of the Chinese people”. It has won such honorary titles as a national historical and cultural city, a strong tourism county in China and a national demonstration zone for all-for-one tourism.

The tourism brand of Fenghuang County is renowned at home and abroad. It’s a leading tourist destination in Xiangxi, and in Hunan Province and even in China.

Since the beginning of this year, the county has held various cultural and tourism festivals, including second Xiangxi Tourism Development Conference, Shibadong Forum on Poverty Reduction and Development and 6^th China (Fenghuang) Folk Photography Biennale. Its popularity, reputation and influence have been significantly improved. In the first nine months of this year, Fenghuang County received over 15.5594 million tourists and generated tourism income of over 15.0516 billion yuan, an increase of 78.66% and 81.67% year on year respectively.

In recent years, relying on its advantageous tourism resources, the county government has focused on building a strong tourism county, and enriching villagers through industries, forming a county-level characteristic economic development model.

Efforts have been made to promote the construction of cultural tourism projects, improve the quality of scenic spots, optimize tour routes and improve the quality of tourist services and facilities.

It has also accelerated the transformation and upgrading of the cultural tourism industry, striving to be a world-famous tourist destination.