HEFEI - Chen Bin, secretary-general in Chinese Alliance of Tourism Commodity Society, confirmed here that the country's industry of tourism commodity is like an undeveloped gold mine and awaits a great boom in future under the backdrop of high-speed development of China's tourism.

At the first Anhui Tourism Commodity Contest held here on Dec 23 in Hefei city, provincial capital of East China's Anhui province, Chen delivered a speech in which he analyzed the factors that may influence China's consumers and attached great importance on tourism commodity brands and packages.

A total of 229 manufactures from different prefecture-level cities within Anhui attended th contest, while five of them won gold medals.

"Anhui is endowed with multiple tourism resources, but it's a pity that we haven't made the best of this advantage in the past," said Zhang Qianwen, a manager from one of the five manufactures winning the top prize, adding that the contest will be a good chance for exhibiting Anhui's tourism commodity.

The three-day contest was co-organized by Anhui Provincial Tourism Association and Anhui Provincial Arts and Crafts Association and high-level officials in Chinese tourism spheres attended the event.

A huge tourism market with 3 billion tourists will be formed in next five years in Anhui, and tourism commodity will be another new rising industry in the province, according to Zhang Hao, an official from the Chinese Alliance of Tourism Commodity Society.