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With the Chinese New Year holiday just weeks away, the province of Guangdong is aiming to become a top destination for the travel season. Local tourism authorities have joined forces with major enterprises and have outlined ten measures to promote cultural activities and consumer spending throughout 2024.

Guangdong's provincial culture department and local enterprises are looking to boost regional tourism. Just weeks ahead of the Chinese New Year, the southern province is aiming to have more people choose Guangdong as their top travel destination.

Li Bin, Director of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong province, said: "2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. It's a crucial year for achieving the goals of the 14th Five Year Plan. We have introduced a series of measures to promote cultural and tourist-related consumption. This will be done to unleash the potential of tourism consumption, and promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry."

The measures involve many of South China's largest enterprises such as China Southern Airlines and WeChat, as the companies roll out programs to facilitate travel, provide discounts and bolster consumer spending.

Tan Mingjun, Head of Weixin Pay Public Service Division, said: "During specified time periods, users can access our Guangdong consumption voucher app through our official account, our posts, and our offline posters by scanning QR codes. They can also actively search our Guangdong consumption voucher app on WeChat. In addition, we will also promote our activities through our Moments and the traffic we receive after payments, so that more people can know about our activities."

Zhang Yubin, VP Sales Division of China Southern Airlines, said: "To attract more people to travel to Guangdong, we plan to invest two million discount coupons of different values ranging from 20 to 300 yuan this year. In addition, there are also some other travel benefits, such as lounge upgrades, luggage related specials, and other travel benefits that come together, as well as more favorable airfares. Together, we want more people to choose China Southern Airlines and take their flights to Guangdong."

The main event has now kicked off, with vouchers from provincial culture authorities and participating companies now live. And many of the activities and places where they are redeemed, span throughout the Greater Bay Area.

Omar Khan from CGTN in Guangzhou said: "Though many people in Guangzhou and Guangdong province head home for the New Year holiday, South China remains to be a major tourist destination. And that's exactly what this event is about — launching a campaign and a series of policies that will hopefully bring more visitors to the region."

Cover photo: Guangzhou Daily