On February 6, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced that 21 scenic areas in China were designated as national 5A-level tourist attractions. Fenghuang Ancient Town in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture made the list. At present, Xiangxi has two national 5A-level tourist attractions.
Fenghuang Ancient Town, located in Fenghuang County, has beautiful natural scenery, a long history, profound cultural heritage, and rich ethnic customs.
Fenghuang Ancient Town is a national historical and cultural city, known as the “most beautiful small town in China”. In recent years, Fenghuang County has made efforts to improve tourism products, enhance service quality, expand tourism markets, and integrate the tourism industry, in a bid to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the cultural tourism industry.
Xiangxi Prefecture leverages the comparative advantages of ethnic regions in culture, to promote the deep integrated development of culture and tourism. The tertiary industry with a focus on tourism has accounted for 56.3%, with the added value of the tourism industry of over 13% of the regional GDP, ranking second in the province.
Last year, the National Experience Exchange Conference on Culture and Tourism Empowering Rural Revitalization, the Hunan Summer Rural Cultural and Tourism Festival, and the Second Xiangxi Tourism Development Conference were held in Xiangxi Prefecture.
Fenghuang County was included in the first batch of pilot areas on culture and tourism empowering rural revitalization in China. Besides, Fenghuang, Jishou, and Yongshun were listed among the top 100 counties and cities in China with comprehensive tourism competitiveness in 2023. Throughout the year, it received 57.7 million tourists and achieved a tourism revenue of 56.4 billion yuan, an increase of 25.3% and 18.7% respectively, ranking among the top in Hunan in terms of growth rate.
An official of Xiangxi Prefecture said that this year, Xiangxi will increase business formats, promote integration, expand markets, strengthen brands, and optimize the environment, boosting the development of the cultural and tourism industry, attracting more tourists to mysterious Xiangxi.
