Two Departments: Research and Formulate Air Tour Market Management Measures to Guide the Healthy and Orderly Development of Low-altitude Tourism

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on December 3, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the “Action Plan for the Integrated Development of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Industry”. Among them, it is mentioned that low-altitude tourism will be developed in a standardized and orderly manner. Promote local authorities to establish an “industry+local” joint supervision mechanism for low-altitude tourism in line with actual practice. On the premise of ensuring safety, enterprises with qualifications and conditions are supported to provide low-altitude tourism programs, and develop characteristic low-altitude tourist routes and products based on the geographical and seasonal characteristics of local tourism resources. Research and formulate management measures for the air tour market to guide the healthy and orderly development of low-altitude tourism.

Rich “civil aviation+cultural tourism” services. Encourage airlines to launch packages and secondary cards covering multiple travel destinations. Support cooperation between airlines, airports, cultural and expo sites, tourist attractions, tourist resorts, hotels and homestays, travel agencies, car rental companies, online travel platforms, etc. Combining the “May 19 China Tourism Day” campaign and national cultural and tourism consumption promotion activities, etc., we will launch more combination products for tourists to choose from.

Support the creation of package products with themes such as “Travel with the Show,” “Travel with the Event,” “Travel with Film and Television,” and “Travel with the Inheritance,” and encourage the launch of student group packages and family discount packages for research trips, parent-child trips, etc. All regions are encouraged to include “civil aviation+cultural tourism” combination products in the scope of consumer voucher policy support.

The original text is as follows:

Notice of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Civil Aviation Administration of China on Issuing the “Action Plan for the Integrated Development of Culture and Tourism and the Civil Aviation Industry”

The departments of culture and tourism (bureaus) of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism Administration of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, all units directly under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, overseas Chinese cultural centers, foreign tourism offices, regional civil aviation authorities, transportation (general) airlines, service guarantee companies, airport companies, and civil aviation authorities:

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Civil Aviation Administration of China have researched and formulated the “Action Plan for the Integrated Development of Culture and Tourism and the Civil Aviation Industry”. It is now being issued to you, so please implement it carefully.

We hereby inform you.

Action plan for integrated development of culture, tourism and civil aviation

In order to promote the integrated development of culture, tourism and the civil aviation industry, further expand development space, and release consumption vitality, this action plan was formulated.

I. General Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, we fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the Second, Third, and Fourth Plenums of the 20th CPC Central Committee, promote the deep integration and two-way empowerment of the civil aviation industry, enrich new cultural tourism experiences, stimulate new consumption potential, cultivate new economic growth points, and better meet the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the masses. By 2027, the level of travel services will improve markedly, cover a wider range of international and domestic travel routes, integrate more diverse products and scenarios, and achieve deeper, broader, and higher quality integration between culture, tourism and civil aviation, forming a healthy development pattern where demand drives supply and supply creates demand.

II. Improving the level of travel services

(1) Optimizing the barrier-free travel environment suitable for the aging of Yinfa Tourism. Guide airlines and airports to address the air travel needs of elderly travelers, upgrade age-appropriate service measures, strengthen service guarantees throughout the process, and encourage the introduction of services such as companionship for elderly passengers, rest areas, in-flight meals for the elderly, and waiting seats for the elderly. Prepare guidelines for barrier-free environment planning and construction in passenger terminal areas at transportation airports, accelerate the transformation of airport facilities to adapt to aging, and further optimize the barrier-free travel environment.

(2) Strengthen the guarantee of safe and convenient travel services for research tourism. Guide airlines and airports to facilitate research teams in ticketing, seat selection, check-in, baggage handling, security checks, and boarding, and encourage airlines and airports that are in a position to do so to provide rapid group verification services. Encourage airports and cultural tourism companies to optimize ground connection resources and provide convenient transfer services for research teams to travel.

(3) Enhance the warm and comfortable flight experience for parent-child travel. Airlines are encouraged to provide services such as seat selection, children's meal reservations, in-flight educational toys, children's books, and children's video content to meet the special travel needs of child travelers. Encourage the establishment of children's play areas, parent-child interactive experience facilities, etc. in terminals. Support airlines and airports to provide customized services for the travel characteristics of families with many children.

(4) Improve heart-warming service initiatives for snow and ice tourism. Encourage snow and ice tourism destination airports to take measures to keep passenger areas warm in severe cold weather, give priority to using covered bridges to guarantee flights with large temperature differences, set up additional changing spots, and provide services such as rental, sale, and delivery of cold weather clothing and thermal supplies. Support airlines and airports to optimize luggage system equipment and facilities, improve ice and snow travel equipment transportation and collection services, and promote “door-to-door” value-added ski equipment delivery services.

(5) Further raise the level of facilitation of inbound tourism. Continue to implement policies and measures to improve the level of facilitation of inbound tourism and travel for foreigners, and cooperate in publicizing and promoting the “buy and refund now” service measures for departure tax refunds. Promote major domestic airlines and hub airports to improve boarding, entry and transit facilitation services, and strengthen guidance and assistance for travelers coming to China on international flights. Improve the airport's foreign language signs and guide facilities, and encourage hub airports to provide portable translation equipment rental services. Establish a hierarchical simplified procedure mechanism at hub airports to expand the coverage of international flights.

III. Optimizing tourist routes and service facilities

(6) Improve domestic travel accessibility. Promote the integration of more tourist cities into the “gateway, fully connected” air transport service network, and encourage the opening of mutual flights and round-trip routes at popular tourist destination regional airports, “air express” and border tourist routes. Support airlines to increase flights according to the peak tourist season and seasonal travel needs such as research travel, parent-child travel, snow and ice tourism, and launch themed flights in line with major cultural and tourism festivals. Yinfa tourist flights will be launched as needed, and discounted off-season travel packages for elderly tourists will be launched. Encourage civil aviation to play a greater role in long-distance research travel, and promote integrated resources to customize and promote a number of special research and tourism routes in eligible regions. Improve the layout of airports in red tourist regions, encourage airlines to explore the red travel market, operate red tourist routes, and support eligible airport projects to be included in the “15th Five-Year Plan” civil aviation development plan.

(7) Encrypt inbound tourist routes. Optimize the allocation of air rights, guide Chinese and foreign airlines to target major passenger source countries and emerging passenger source countries, in particular to jointly build “Belt and Road” countries, increase direct flights, and improve the inbound tourist route network. Encourage the development of regional intermodal routes, “air+high-speed rail” intermodal transport products, “cruise+air” intermodal packages, etc. with visa-free transit policies to meet the diverse and differentiated travel needs of inbound tourists. Implement an inbound tourist route promotion plan to focus on cultivating and building a number of boutique inbound tourist routes every year for major inbound tourist source countries, emerging tourist source countries, and major inbound tourist destination cities.

(8) Improve airport travel service facilities. Promote the establishment of special areas at airports in popular tourist destination cities to facilitate the parking of tourist vehicles such as special tourist buses, chartered tourist buses, and direct buses to resorts and hotels. Support the establishment of travel distribution centers, tourist service centers, etc. in airport terminals where conditions are available, and provide one-stop services such as tourist information consultation, individual passenger distribution, guided tours, ticket reservations, car rental, luggage delivery, and public service publicity.

4. Cultivate and integrate new products, new business formats, and new scenarios

(9) Enrich “civil aviation+cultural tourism” services. Encourage airlines to launch packages and secondary cards covering multiple travel destinations. Support cooperation between airlines, airports, cultural and expo sites, tourist attractions, tourist resorts, hotels and homestays, travel agencies, car rental companies, online travel platforms, etc. Combining the “May 19 China Tourism Day” campaign and national cultural and tourism consumption promotion activities, etc., we will launch more combination products for tourists to choose from. Support the creation of package products with themes such as “Travel with the Show,” “Travel with the Event,” “Travel with Film and Television,” and “Travel with the Inheritance,” and encourage the launch of student group packages and family discount packages for research trips, parent-child trips, etc. All regions are encouraged to include “civil aviation+cultural tourism” combination products in the scope of consumer voucher policy support.

(10) Develop civil aviation themed cultural and tourism products. Support cultural and tourism enterprises to strengthen cooperation with civil aviation organizations, create civil aviation themed literary and artistic works and tourism performing arts projects rich in cultural heritage and the atmosphere of the times, and develop civil aviation-themed cultural and creative products and co-branded products. Encourage the launch of boutique tourism routes for the civil aviation industry, and support the use of decommissioned civil aviation aircraft, abandoned airports, etc. to develop cultural and tourism projects such as simulated driving, popular science education, immersive experiences, catering and entertainment. Implement a civil aviation themed research tourism product development plan, select and promote a number of educational and attractive civil aviation themed research tourism brand projects and courses to popularize civil aviation knowledge and promote civil aviation culture. On the premise of ensuring normal operation and safety, civil aviation units can make reservations to open airport facilities, aviation bases, flight training camps, etc. to carry out research and tourism activities.

(11) Develop low-altitude tourism in a standardized and orderly manner. Promote local authorities to establish an “industry+local” joint supervision mechanism for low-altitude tourism in line with actual practice. On the premise of ensuring safety, enterprises with qualifications and conditions are supported to provide low-altitude tourism programs, and develop characteristic low-altitude tourist routes and products based on the geographical and seasonal characteristics of local tourism resources. Research and formulate management measures for the air tour market to guide the healthy and orderly development of low-altitude tourism.

(12) Create new cultural and tourism display consumption scenarios. Promote the construction of cultural airports, and encourage airports that are in a position to do so to make full use of existing facilities to set up cultural scenes such as cultural galleries, intangible heritage displays, themed exhibitions, cultural and expo displays, interactive entertainment, and immersive experiences to create an “airport cultural conference living room.” Expand cultural and tourism consumption scenarios, and support cultural and creative products, specialty products, domestic “trendy products”, intangible heritage goods, consumer electronics products, etc. to enter the terminal and in-flight shopping product catalogue.

5. Create a good environment for integrated development

(13) Establish communication and coordination mechanisms. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Civil Aviation Administration of China strengthen daily communication and coordination, support local cultural and tourism administration departments to establish cooperation mechanisms with civil aviation regional authorities, airlines, airports and other civil aviation units, strengthen coordination and linkage in line design, project cooperation, publicity and promotion, and promote the integration of culture and tourism with the civil aviation industry in product innovation, business format innovation, scenario innovation and service innovation. Guide cultural and tourism administration departments and civil aviation units at all levels to strengthen data sharing and application, and provide a basis for accurately carrying out publicity and promotion, passenger transportation, and holiday operation monitoring and scheduling.

(14) Strengthen policy support guarantees. Further improve route flight management policies, and optimize the construction of tourist route networks and flight capacity allocation. Civil aviation units should strengthen the development and utilization of resources and support their enterprises and institutions to participate in integrated development work. Local cultural and tourism administration departments should coordinate and make good use of policies related to consumption promotion and industrial development to promote the development and operation of integrated products between culture and tourism and the civil aviation industry. Encourage places in a position to do so to introduce special support policies to promote the integrated development of culture, tourism and the civil aviation industry.

(15) Strengthen publicity and promotion efforts. Local cultural and tourism administration departments and civil aviation units are encouraged to jointly carry out product promotion and themed consumer promotion activities, and support the establishment of special zones on key exhibitions, festivals, and online promotion and marketing platforms in the culture and tourism industry. Support the use of airport billboards, aviation magazines, in-flight entertainment systems, etc. to carry out public welfare promotion of culture and tourism, and display cultural and tourism promotion materials in flight lounges, cabin seat back pockets, etc. Establish a coordination mechanism for overseas publicity and promotion, promote cooperation between overseas Chinese cultural centers, overseas tourism offices and overseas marketing centers of airlines, jointly organize cultural and tourism enterprises and civil aviation units to participate in overseas cultural and tourism exhibitions, forums, etc., and jointly promote inbound tourism products and routes.

This article was selected from the official website of the “Ministry of Culture and Tourism”, Zhitong Finance Editor: Jiang Yuanhua.