Eight examples of pursuing high-quality tourism development in Jilin—Jilin Province Tourism Holding Group Co., Ltd

Editor’s note:

Jilin province has been pursuing high-quality tourism development in recent years, aiming to make tourism a new pillar and driving force for its economic growth. The segments it is particularly ambitious in are eco tour and ice and snow tour with a goal to become a world-class destination for such tours. Meanwhile, it is also vigorously developing summer tour and border tour. Against this background, the province called a conference in Changchun on May 22 where eight case studies offered fresh, inspiring insight into how high-quality tourism growth could be achieved in the province. We will introduce the eight cases one by one. The case for today is Jilin Tourism Holding Group Co., Ltd.

Since its establishment, Jilin Province Tourism Holding Group, as a State-owned enterprise, has played a strategic, guiding and exemplary role in the development of Jilin province's tourism industry, said Gao Fei, the company’s chairman of the board, at the meeting.

Over the years, the company has been a staunch champion of reform and innovation. While learning sophisticated management practices from international tourism investment companies, it also commissioned first-rate Chinese consultancies to formulate cooperate strategies and action plans.

Meanwhile, the company has reached strategic cooperation with Aecom, an American multinational that is among the world’s best consultancies, to develop a“Travel+Commerce+Culture”business model as part of its effort to find new drives for profit growth.

By embracing technological innovation, the company is also working to launch digital products. The APP“一码游吉林,”a product from cooperation with a famous Chinese big data company, is scheduled for launch in October. While serving its users, the APP will also help identify tourism market trends by using the data it collects for the reference of Jilin’s tourism authorities and tourism companies in their decision-making.

The company adopts a problem-oriented corporate strategy. It has long been committed to solving problems of various kinds facing Jilin’s tourism industry. The problems fall primarily into three categories: financing, tourist routes and tourism products.

To address financing difficulties, the company has pushed for the setup of a tourism industry development fund. The fund is expected to boost cooperation with financial institutions and attract more tourism investment from outside Jilin.

To develop marketable tourist routes, the company has carefully studied Jilin’s master plan for tourism development and accordingly design tourist routes that connect scattered tourist attractions.

For tourism products, the company has developed distinctive tourism commodities, opened tourism shops in pertinent cities and key scenic areas, and staged cultural performances.

In terms of tourism projects, the company will expand investment and intensify implementation with focus on those featuring ice and snow and summer tours. Investment will mainly be channeled into tourist resorts, tourist towns, pastoral complexes, RV camps and health preserving parks.

In a bid to boost cooperation, the company has set up an alliance with another ten State-owned provincial-level tourism groups. It has also inked an intent of cooperation with Jinjiang to establish a joint-venture hotel management group with an aim to put into place a hotel management system that covers the whole of Northeast China.

Regarding transportation, the company has tied with FAW to jointly fund a platform for tourist transportation that will cover online car hailing, taxi, etc.

The company has also reached intent of cooperation with Antaeus Group to launch Mangrove Tree-branded tourism projects in Changchun and Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone.

To integrate Jilin’s tourism resources, the company will strengthen cooperation with local governments and tourism platforms in the province. It will also take advantage of private investment and enhance cooperation with financial institutions to introduce in innovative ways more capital into Jilin’s tourism industry.