China eyes development of tourism industry

BEIJING - The Chinese government has laid down key measures to improve the quality of tourism services amid efforts to promote the high-quality development of the industry.

Targeting key problems affecting travel, a guideline issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism listed seven priority areas for quality enhancement, including scenic zones, accommodation, online and brick-and-mortar travel agencies, tour guides and tourism administration.

The guideline calls on government agencies to strengthen supervision, market participants to fulfill their responsibility, industry associations to play a better role in coordination and the introduction of industry standards, and practitioners to improve their professional skills.

The government aims to make tourism services "an important representative of China's services" by 2020, with the tourism market and consumption environment improved, and market order well-regulated.

With the approaching of the Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 5 this year, the ministry also reminded outbound tourists to raise awareness of safety and "abide by the norms of civilized behavior."