|
||||
天津,一座拥有悠久历史的海滨名城,正在向中外游客展示她独特的魅力。无论是独具特色的西式小洋楼建筑、海河游船,还是闻名遐迩的“狗不理包子”和“杨柳青年画”,都对游客产生了巨大的吸引力。
2010年上半年,天津吸引海外游客823300名,国内游客460万人,均比去年同期增长15%以上,创下历史最高记录。上半年的国内旅游收入达575亿元,比2009年同期增长了21%以上。
“我们预计今年旅游业的直接收入将达到1200亿元,到2015年,天津旅游直接收入可能将达到3000亿元”,天津旅游局局长佘清文向记者介绍说。
随着国家经济的快速发展,天津旅游业也呈现出高速发展的态势,正在吸引越来越多的海外游客。佘局长提到,旅游业作为现代服务产业的重要分支产业,会对天津的经济增长做出更大的贡献。“我们希望旅游业能够成为一个支柱产业,拉动消费,创造更多的就业机会,发展成为现代服务产业的中坚力量。”
旅游产业节
今年10月,“第二届中国旅游产业节”计划将在天津举行,产业节的举办将进一步提升天津作为知名旅游城市的形象,佘局长介绍。
据悉,旅游节于去年在天津首次举办。
“我们要充分利用旅游节这个难得的机会,把天津旅游打造成为一个国际品牌。我们希望有更多的游客来天津,这也会推动天津经济的发展”,天津市副市长任学锋介绍道。
今年旅游产业节包括电影节、博览会、旅游业发展峰会、时装秀和嘉年华等环节。目前,产业节的各项准备工作正在有条不紊地进行,组织方决心将这次产业节打造成为一次高水准的旅游界盛事,同时,对拉动中国北方城市的旅游、观光及旅游投资而言,这无疑也是一次黄金机会。
“除了吸引更多游客,我们希望商界人士也能够参与到本次产业节中,并寻求相关产业的投资机遇,比如休闲设备制造业等”,佘局长强调。
天津休闲设备制造业涉及许多方面,从游艇、篷车等大型设备,到户外探险用品、运动设备和酒店产品。
产业链
天津旅游业拥有良好的投资发展机会,并有着完整的旅游周边产业链。天津市旅游局的相关官员介绍道。
“在天津,旅游业直接促进了约26个产业部门的发展,并对其他32个部门产生了间接支撑作用”。佘局长介绍道,“在旅游业每投资1元,将有可能在相关产业带来4.3元的收益”。
“旅游产业节能够促进GDP的增长,如果它能在旅游业的发展过程中掀起联动式浪潮,这也将有助于城市产业的多样化。”天津南开大学经济学教授秦海英介绍说。
“旅游业的发展除了能促进基础设施建设外,像农家乐一类新旅游项目的开发,也将促进相关经济领域的发展。”秦教授说。
佘局长介绍,去年,天津市为了应对经济下滑,采取了一系列刺激经济的行动,其中包括:在2009年举办的20个旅游推广活动,如黄崖关马拉松邀请赛、渔洋金秋旅游节以及五大道国际文化节。
新亮点
据天津旅游局相关负责人介绍,天津市现正在加强旅游景点建设,开发了许多具有国际标准的景点项目。围绕海河打造的一系列观光项目正在开发当中,“海河游”贯穿天津市城区,将带领游客一览津城的美丽风景,目前,观光旅游船已投入使用,同时,海河沿岸还新建了一系列休闲旅游景点。观光船自三月份投入运营以来,目前已接待了140000名游客。
自2009年来,天津市有10多个新的旅游项目先后投入运营,包括天津极地海洋公园、国际邮轮母港和千尊玉佛寺。同时,天津还尝试开发“工业游”项目,空客A320总装线和其他知名生产设备将定期向游客开放。
除了开发旅游景点,天津也致力于提高市内酒店的设施和服务,现已对10余家五星级酒店进行了翻新建设。到2010年底,天津市内的顶级酒店数量将达到20家。这些酒店将为2010年天津夏季达沃斯论坛的与会者提供优质服务。
新政策
天津设立了一系列政策来吸引海外游客,同时重点加强与北京、环渤海地区、香港、澳门、台湾以及东北亚国家旅游公司的交流与更广泛的合作。目前,天津市旅游局也在对一些政策进行研讨,其中涉及对海外游客的免签证入境、邮轮旅客的直接通关等方面。
“这些政策将大幅度提升天津的海外游客的吸引力。”秦教授说道。“游客对一个城市的第一印象往往来自于海关,使游客能够通关顺利,对于提升天津旅游城市形象至关重要。这些的政策可以吸引游客在天津市驻足游玩,而不仅仅把这里当成一个中转站。”(中国日报供稿 记者:王钰)
英文原稿
New facilities and image to entice more tourists
As a port city on Bohai Bay with a long international history, Tianjin has plenty of attractions to draw visitors, including colonial-style Western buildings, pleasure boats on the Haihe River, its renowned steamed stuffed meat buns called gou buli baozi and distinctive Yang liuqing paintings of fat babiesat Spring Festival.
Tianjin welcomed 823,300 overseas tourists and 4.6 million domestic visitors in the first half of 2010, both increasing more than 15 percent year on year, historic highs for the city. Revenue from domestic tourism hit 57.5 billion yuan for the six months, growth of more than 21 percent over the same period of 2009.
“We expect the sector to have a direct revenue of 120 billion yuan this year. By 2015, Tianjin’s direct tourism income may hit 300 billion yuan,” She Qingwen, head of the Tianjin Tourism Bureau, told China Daily.
As the nation’s economy continues its unprecedented growth, Tianjin’s tourism continues to expand and authorities are now trying to attract more travelers from abroad. She noted that tourism, a key component of the modern service industry, should contribute more to Tianjin’s economy. “We hope tourism can turn out to be a pillar industry, driving up consumption and enhancing employment. It can grow into a leading force for the development of modern service industry.”
Tourism festival
The second China Tourism Industry Festival scheduled in Tianjin this October is expected to boost the city’s image as a travel destination, She said. The festival made its debut in Tianjin last year.
“We plan to make the festival a golden opportunity to establish Tianjin tourism as an international brand. Eventually we want more tourists to come, which would of course help spur Tianjin’s economy,” said Ren Xuefeng, vice-mayor of Tianjin, who is in charge of the city’s service industry, commerce and trade.
This year’s festival includes movie entertainment, expos, a tourism industry development summit, a fashion show and carnivals. Preparations for the event are in full swing, and organizers are determined to turn it into a big occasion and golden opportunity for traveling, sightseeing and tourism investment in north China.
“In addition to attracting tourists, we hope more businesspeople will come and seek investment opportunities in related industries like leisure equipment manufacturing,” She stressed.
Tianjin’s leisure equipment manufacturing ranges from large gear such as yachts and caravans to personal items for outdoor adventure, sports equipment and hotel products.
Industrial chain
Tianjin has a complete tourism-related industrial chain, with a host of investment and development opportunities, the tourism official said.
Tourism directly supports some 26 industrial sectors and indirectly another 32 in Tianjin. Every yuan invested in the tourism industry has the potential to bring 4.3 yuan to related industries, She said.
“The tourism festival could boost GDP growth and also help diversify the city’s industries if it creates a sustained surge in tourism,” said Qin Haiying, economics professor at Nankai University of Tianjin.
“The development of tourism industry will step up infrastructure construction. Besides, developing tourism programs such as agricultural sightseeing will stimulate related economic sectors,” said Qin.
Last year Tianjin began its own stimulus policy to deal with the economic downturn. It included 20 tourism promotion events in 2009, such as the Huangyaguan International Invitational Marathon, the Yuyang Gold Autumn Travel Festival and the Five-Avenue International Cultural Festival, according to She.
New attractions
Tianjin has now improved many of its tourist sites and developed a number of international standard resorts, according to the Tianjin Tourism Bureau.
An increasingly popular activity is plying the Haihe River, which crosses the city’s urban center, for sightseeing. Tour boats are now in service and new leisure spots have risen up along the river. The pleasure boat service has accommodated 140,000 visitors since it began operation in March.
Just since 2009, more than 10 new tourism projects have begun operation in Tianjin, including Tianjin Polar Ocean Park, International Passenger Liner Home Port and Qianzhun Yufo Temple.
The city is also exploring the possibility of “industrial tourism”. The assembly line for the Airbus A320 and other wide-known production facilities will open to visitors at regular intervals.
In addition to building tourism resorts, Tianjin has seen improvement in hotel amenities and services. Ten more five-star hotels have been built or renovated, which when open will bring the number of top-star hotels to 20 by the end of 2010. They are contributing greatly to accommodations for 2010 Summer Davos participants.
New policies
The city has also implemented several polices to attract overseas tourists including encouraging greater ties with overseas and domestic travel companies, especially those in Beijing, the neighboring Bohai Bay region, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and northeast Asian economies.
The tourism bureau is now discussing visa-free access for overseas tourists and streamlined customs clearance for visitors from passenger liners.
“These policies will make Tianjin more attractive,” said professor Qin. “They will generally improve the mood of tourists. Customs is where visitors get their first impression of the city, so a good experience there is important for showing Tianjin’s image as a destination. Such policies will hopefully entice visitors to stay in the city instead of just using it as a transit station.”