Better Tourism, Better Life, Better World” project shows cases of poverty alleviation in China through tourism. The project, includes photo exhibition and documentary series, describe provinces, autonomous regions, cities and villages across China that were once in severe poverty and thanks to the tourism industry got out of poverty and had a better life”.
Discover the “Magic of Bama Logivity Village” Poverty Alleviation case:
Located at the central area of the Bama tourist zone for longevity and recuperation, Bama Yao Autonomous County, an old revolutionary base, used to be mired in poverty. In accordance with the concept that “the poorer the region, the more important it is to pursue high-quality development and take the path of open development”, the county has successfully addressed the issue of poverty reduction by developing tourism, recuperation industry and other eco-friendly industries. It persisted in planning and pushing for tourism development and poverty reduction in a synchronized manner, and brought in leading enterprises for developing all-for-one tourism. In 2020, the whole county surpassed the poverty threshold.
Discover the “B&B Beside River” Jinjiang village Poverty Alleviation case:
Jinjiang Village is located in Longji Town, Longsheng Multi-ethnic Autonomous County, Guilin City. Adjacent to Longji Terraces, a world-class tourism spot, used to see very few tourists. Traditional agriculture was the main component of its economy. The villagers’ per capita annual income was less than 5,000 RMB and 30% of them lived in dire poverty. In October 2017, Guilin Municipal Tourism Development Committee signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Airbnb, making the impoverished village of Jinjiang a pilot area for rural poverty alleviation through tourism. The villagers set up rural tourism cooperatives which leased idle houses in the village and transformed them into homestays with local cultural characteristics, and the income from the operations were shared by all the villagers. Other measures were taken such as training women housekeepers and providing guidance for the villagers to do room service and catering. Meanwhile, steps were taken to draw on farming culture and folk customs and develop tourism products to enhance tourist experiences, such as walking on the terraces and pounding glutinous rice to make cakes, and cooperate with online celebrities to sell tea-based monkfruit drinks on their official account platforms in order to increase the villagers” income. Jinjiang Village has successfully found a new road to rejuvenation and poverty relief through tourism, based on the Airbnb homestay model.
