On the morning of August 29th, the first Shandong International Boutique Tourism Industry Expo and the Culture Tourism Integration New Economic Growth Drivers Summit (hereinafter referred to as the "Summit and Expo") was held at the Shandong International Convention and Exhibition Center in Huaiyin District of Jinan. It will last for 3 days until August 31th.
"Summit and Expo" is the first innovative exhibition platform in Shandong and the only one in China, with the theme of "Boutique Tourism". It has set up a series of exhibitions with an exhibition area of nearly 20,000 square meters, such as 70-year photo exhibition of Shandong Tourism, overseas tourism exhibition, boutique tourism industry exhibition, exhibition of tourism related paintings and calligraphy by famous artists, and countryside tourism for poverty alleviation. This has attracted to Jinan nearly 100 tourism promotion agencies from more than 40 countries and regions including from Asia, Europe, America and Africa, as well as more than 400 culture and tourism brand names and agencies recommended by 30 provincial and municipal cultural and tourism departments (bureaus).
As a city strong in culture and tourism industry, Weifang participated in this expo in the form of exquisitely decorated pavilion, and set up the boutique tourism industry exhibition themed as "Kite Flying Over the Sky, and Beautiful Weifang Under Heaven". The layout of the exhibition area falls into 6 sectors, namely, "Beautiful City, Culture from the Ancient to Modern Times, Beautiful Landscape, Rich Folklore, Geological Wonders, and Cultural Creation Space", which showcase the cultural tourism industry in Weifang through video, pictures, texts, objects, and performances.
During the exhibition, the colorful Weifang fine tourism resources and more than 20 kinds of intangible heritage products with different characteristics attracted wide attention from the visitors. Liu Min, Level 2 Counsel of Shandong Culture and Tourism Department, visited the exhibition area, listened carefully about the development of Weifang's fine tourism industry and gave positive comments on that.
With the help of this Expo, Weifang Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau organized a number of activities such as Weifang boutique tourism routes and promotion of key cultural tourism projects. Through the participation in the first boutique tourism expo in Shandong Province, the influence, attraction and appeal of Weifang cultural tourism have been further enhanced.
