Rural Tourism Prevailing in Ningbo

I woke up naturally in the quiet village, and then I climbed the mountain and bamboo poles, made zongzi, tasted the bamboo wine, ate black rice and did many other things. In the city I cannot lead such a low-paced life which really brought me back to my childhood, said Li Yang, a tourist from Wenzhou who stayed in a local residence in the Dalei Village of Hengjie Town, Yinzhou District and enjoyed his tour in the countryside last week. Recently, travelers like Li Yang coming to the villages in Ningbo are on the increase. According to the statistics released by Ningbo Municipal Tourism Administration in May 23th, the first three months of 2016 alone has witnessed the reception of 8.887 million tourists from across the country.

Tourists traveling to countryside doubled

According to the Administration's report on tourism of the first quarter, rural areas in Ningbo have received 8.887 million tourists, up 23.01% over last year. Through two years' hard work, rural infrastructure for tourism has been drastically improved with the maturing market and regulatory systems. As 2016 is the Year of Tourism Promotion on the theme of Beautiful Countryside, we will further boost the rural tourism of our city, said an official of the Administration.

Now while chartering blueprints for local tourism, relative government leaders are laying more emphasis on sightseeing, fruits picking, local cuisines, rest and recreation, healthy exercise and cultural atmosphere, so as to attract tourists. The picturesque countryside has already become a strong magnet. Actually, the mere admiration of flowers involves over ten kinds of itineraries differentiated depending on different flowers which include peach flower, plum flower, pear flower, rape, tulip, lavender and so on. In the first half of 2016, tourist authority in Fenghua focused on developing tourist attractions of peach flowers, while Cixi and Dongqian Lake also released tourist guides about the tours for flowers on Weibo, Wechat and official websites. All these were welcomed by tourists with great enthusiasm.

Beds available in bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) exceeding 10,000

With the spring flowers in full bloom, visitors flocked to Ningbo's countryside, which not only prompted the sales of local agricultural products like fruits, vegetables, qingtuan and rice cakes, but also boosted local B&B industry.

The new statistics also showed that in the first quarter, the average occupancy rate of restaurants in Ningbo reached 48.27%, up 4.16% year-on-year. And the average price for a room was 351.31 yuan, up 0.49% year-on-year. The extensive influence of rural tourism led to a burgeoning B&B industry. Currently the beds available in B&Bs has first exceeded 10,000 in Ningbo, rising by 10.44% over last year, a new highlight in the growth of the B&B industry, said an official in the Administration.

He also added that the emerging B&Bs now were increasingly diversified and of high quality. And statistics showed that the majority of tourists traveled in groups. It's quite common to see families checking in in holidays, said Liu Cun who's in charge of a B&B in Shatangwan Village of Shipu Town, Xiangshan County.

The flourishing B&B industry demonstrated the drastic structural changes taking place in the lodging sector of Ningbo. At present, the rising market of recreational travel has broken the monopoly of restaurants, drawing more attention and popularity to B&Bs, said Liu.

Local festivals went popular

Local festivals attracted numerous tourists, contributing greatly to the rising rural tourism.

Since the beginning of 2016, local tourist authorities and agencies have held a series of activities like kermises and lantern shows revolving the theme blessing , based on consumers' demand for recreation and joy.

Take the TV & Film Kermis held in February in Xiangshan. Because of the colorful activities on the four themes, the Year of Magic , the Year of Traditions , the Year of Celebrities and the Year of TV & Film , the kermis received as many as 146,800 tourists, up 63% over last year, and reaped 5.245 million yuan, rising by 48%. Other activities offering unique experiences and full participation were also popular among tourists across the country, including Ninghai Qiantong Town Tofu Festival, Fenghua Xiaowang Temple Kirmis, Yuyao Amazing Dalan Tea Culture Festival, Ninghai Sangzhou Tea-tasting Festival, etc.

Roughly over 6 million tourists participated in local festivals in the first quarter of 2016, increasing about 10% over last year.

LINK:	http://en.nbwh.gov.cn/art/2016/5/26/art_1325_84264.html...
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