Yongzhou promotes tourism and investment opportunities in Shenzhen

Yongzhou, a city in Hunan Province, held a cultural tourism and investment promotion conference in Shenzhen on May 9, showcasing its latest achievements in the integrated development of culture, tourism, and sports.

The event consisted of two parts: a culture and tourism promotion session and an investment promotion session.

At the culture and tourism session, Wu Huicai, head of Yongzhou’s publicity department, said that the city has long been committed to developing tourism through culture, enriching culture through tourism, and driving industry development through sports.

Audience members attend Yongzhou’s cultural tourism and investment promotion conference in Shenzhen. Courtesy of the event organizer

Yongzhou is making every effort to build itself into a well-known destination for cultural and ecological tourism, with the goal of becoming a preferred travel destination, a wellness retreat, and an ideal place for investment for residents and investors from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), according to Wu.

Xie Xiaobo, deputy director of the Hunan Provincial Government’s office in Guangzhou, described Yongzhou as a city that blends deep cultural heritage and Tang-Song elegance with a vibrant contemporary spirit. With the construction of the Guangzhou-Qingyuan-Yongzhou high-speed railway accelerating, the city is poised to join the GBA’s "90-minute economic and living circle."

Xie added that his office will continue to serve as a frontline bridge, working to translate the cooperation agreements reached at the event into tangible results for mutual benefit. 

During the event, five counties, districts, and county-level cities in Yongzhou — including Lingling, Ningyuan, Qiyang, Shuangpai, and Jiangyong — successively presented their local tourism resources, showcasing attractions such as Lingling Ancient City, Wuxi Stele Forest, and the Cloud Sea at Yangming Mountain. The presentations highlighted the unique character and charm of each county and district.

The event also unveiled three premium themed tourism routes designed to meet the diverse needs of study tours, sightseeing trips, and cultural heritage exploration.

Yongzhou also held matchmaking talks with travel agencies and cultural tourism companies from the GBA and signed cooperation agreements to deepen tourist exchanges, jointly develop routes, and promote project cooperation.

At the investment promotion session, Zhou Yunling, Yongzhou's vice mayor, said the city has benefited from the popularity of the Hunan Super League, with the event’s economic spillover effects fully unleashed.

In 2025, Yongzhou received 15.64 million tourist visits, up 35.33% year on year, while total tourism spending reached 16.51 billion yuan (US$2.43 billion), up 79.64 percent from a year earlier.

She said Yongzhou will continue to provide the best environment, the best policies, and the best services to support business investment and development.

Zhou Xianzhi, head of Yongzhou’s culture, tourism, radio, television, and sports bureau, introduced the city’s 2026 culture-tourism-sports event plan and industry investment promotion initiatives.

He unveiled nine major flagship sporting events, released the full-year schedule of culture-tourism-sports activities, and detailed the city’s investment directions and preferential policies for the cultural tourism industry, extending a sincere invitation to entrepreneurs in the GBA.