Rural tourism takes off in Guizhou province

The explosion of choices now on offer in southwestern Guizhou province's rural tourism sector was explored at a conference held at Kaiyang county in Guiyang, the capital of the province on Aug 27-29, according to its organizers.

More than 200 company representatives and specialists from cultural tourism departments in all parts of the province attended the conference.

They inspected and learned about the developments in Kaiyang's rural tourism, experienced the charms of rural tourism and made suggestions on the development of rural tourism in the province.

During the two-day event, the participants divided into two groups to inspect and learn the rural tourist attractions in Kaiyang.

They also learned in detail about the measures to combat local poverty through rural tourism and visited some important rural tourism projects.

At the provincial rural tourism conference, the first batch of national key rural tourism villages Guizhou was awarded. Representatives from Kaiyang county and another four counties and cities made speeches.

Provincial departments discussed supporting policies for rural tourism, while they proposed new guidelines for the work on developing rural tourism and poverty alleviation in the province.

Officials said that in recent years, Kaiyang county has made concerted efforts to create a new type of homestay tourism and encouraged impoverished residents to develop rural tourism through internet platforms.

Since the development of Kaiyang's rural tourism, an industry has formed.

Officials said that it is characterized by summer water rafting, countryside scenery, cultural experiences, wetlands, homestays, farmhouses, rural manors, agricultural tourism, bicycle riding and other attractions.

They added that it has gradually developed a special brand of 'Kaiyang Tourism', with its own kind of integration of the agricultural, cultural and tourism industries -- attracting attention both inside and outside the province.