Final Report - Asian Development Bank

and mature product compared to other tourism opportunities in the province. These opportunities
include ecotourism where higher growth is possible because of the recent and future planned
improvements to the province’s transportation system. The result will be greater travel by urban
residents to increasingly accessible tourism destinations in the province, particularly in the Qinling
Mountains.
44. The Xian tourism sector is responding to the growth challenge through plans and strategies
designed to diversity its tourism products. Product diversification includes expanding the range of
historical and cultural products (including the Dao religion), developing eco-tourism and other
resource-based tourism particularly in the QM, and establishing Xian as a major international city with
unique local characteristics.
45. The problem of unbalanced development in Shaanxi is clearly recognized in the Shaanxi
11th FYP. In keeping with the Government’s policy on the socialization of the countryside discussed
above, the 11th FYP includes interventions designed to bring achieve balanced and inclusive
provincial economic growth. This includes investment to reduce inequalities in GDP, productivity,
incomes, consumer purchasing power, access to basic services, and quality of life between, the less
developed and rural northern and southern regions, and the more advanced central region linked to
Xian and the transportation and tourism corridor from Henan through central Shaanxi to Gansu.
46. The proposed tourism strategy for the southern Shaanxi region outlined in the 11 th Five Year
Plan, includes the Qinling Mountain range, prioritizes green industry development in such areas as
forestry, agriculture and agro-industry, hydro-power, the development of Chinese herbs for medicinal
and other purposes, eco-tourism, and other forms of tourism including historical and cultural tourism
based on the Tang Dynasty. The Project seeks to develop tourism prioritized by the Southern Shaanxi
strategy by developing attractions linked to the Qinling Mountains strengthening the current Shaanxi
tourism market. The tourism section of the Shaanxi Province 11th FYP identifies ten major tourism
sites with one being the Botanicalal Garden. In addition, the Qinling Mountain Ecological Tourism
Area is one of six tourism “brands” to be emphasized in the tourism strategy under the Shaanxi 11 th
FYP.
47. The tourism industry is divided between hotels/accommodation facilities, travel and tour
agencies, and tourism attractions and tourist sites. The province’s tourism base and supporting
infrastructure are well developed. There are currently about 300 starred hotels in Shaanxi (five star –
4 hotels, four stars – 24 hotels, three stars – 135, two stars or below – 137 hotels) supplying 60,000
beds. When the non-starred hotels are added, the province has well over 330,000 beds. Four and
five star hotels are generally owned by the state and/or operated through foreign joint ventures. Most
of the two and three star hotels are owned by the state with management contracted to domestic
private sector enterprises with a few under private ownership.
48. Shaanxi has about 470 travel agencies. The 45 international travel agencies that can receive
international tourists and organize outbound travel by Chinese individuals and groups are owned by
the state through joint ventures (JVs) between SOEs and foreign and domestic enterprises. In
contrast, the remaining 425 or so domestic travel agencies are mainly owned and operated by
domestically owned private enterprises, with 2% owned by the government.
49. Shaanxi has developed 300 tourism sites. Cultural and historical sites cannot be sold to the
private sector. Only one such site, a theme park in Xian, is owned by the private sector. The smaller
tourism sites with lower or no ranking are owned by a mix of government and private interests.
Compared to OECD countries, the government plays a larger role in product development, marketing
and financing of tourism attractions and services in the PRC as a whole and in Shaanxi in particular.
Private sector involvement in the Shaanxi tourism industry is too low, and the current government
strategy seeks to expand private investment from both domestic and foreign sources in the Shaanxi
Province tourism industry.
50. The Shaanxi Tourism Bureau provides the following functions and services: policy and
planning, tourism development, quality of service regulation and handling of tourist complaints, a
service center to assist tourism operators, and supervision of the tourism environment. The Xian
Tourism Administration has a similar structure and provides similar services and has a division that
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