(Ma Yuanzhu, Chairman of Mount Emei Tourism Co., Ltd.)
Chairman Ma Yuanzhu explained that the branding of Emei Snow Bud tea has become a new growth point for Mount Emei tourism, and experiencing tea culture has become an important part of visiting Mount Emei. By holding the annual “Emei Snow Bud Buddhist Offering Ceremony,” visitors can closely experience the traditional ritual of blessed tea in Mount Emei, thus gaining a true understanding of the “unity of Zen and tea.”
Why focus on tea tourism and tea culture? Chairman Ma Yuanzhu explained the reasoning behind it. The tea culture tour launched this time is just a new product, a microcosm of Mount Emei tourism. The tea culture tour includes “one shop and three workshops” in Mount Emei. The “one shop” refers to the uniquely themed Emei Snow Bud Grand Hotel, a tea culture-themed hotel. The “three workshops” are the Snow Bud Workshops built around Mount Emei at Baoguo Temple, Wannian Temple, and the Golden Summit. The Snow Bud Workshops will primarily emphasize the concept of a green, ecological, and eco-friendly wellness sanctuary. By constructing tea workshops around ancient temples, they aim to create an ecological Zen tea culture on Mount Emei and develop tea experience tours centered around Emei Snow Bud tea.
Integrating Tea and Travel: Mount Emei Leads Smart Tourism
(Du Hui, Deputy General Manager of Mount Emei Tourism Co., Ltd., speaks on tea and travel integration)
“Tea from the mountains of Mount Emei, water from the Yangtze River”—centered around the theme of tea and travel integration, Du Hui, Deputy General Manager of Mount Emei Tourism Co., Ltd., provided a fresh introduction to Mount Emei tourism as a whole. From the “dual highs” (high-speed rail and expressways) to twelve distinctive thematic product series including zodiac-themed tours, Buddhist culture tours, “East-West-South-North-Central” self-drive tours, online game-inspired tours, ice-snow hot spring tours, wonders tours, and smart tours, he gave detailed presentations. This completely broke away from traditional marketing methods, refining products that have brand appeal, cultural depth, and standardized e-commerce readiness.
The official e-commerce platform of the Mount Emei scenic area, “Shitu Travel Network,” has become increasingly mature, achieving full seamless integration with the hotel system, tickets, bus tickets, and cable car tickets. Through downloading the “Shitu Travel Network” mobile app, following the WeChat account, using the scenic area’s self-service ticket machines, and with full Wi-Fi coverage across the mountain, visitors can enjoy free wireless internet services while in the scenic area. It has long become a professional channel for customizing personalized travel products. Mount Emei tourism has truly achieved personalization and convenience.
Additionally, at the end of 2013, the Mount Emei scenic area hosted the first Smart Tourism Destination E-commerce Forum, where 29 strategic partners were signed, including Nanjing’s Tuniu Travel Network, Suzhou’s Tongcheng Network, Shanghai’s Ctrip, and Lvmama Travel Network. This enabled open API integration, real-time data transmission, real-time room bookings, diversified ticket reservations to enhance customer experience, provision of multi-level and distinctive tour routes along with niche personalized product designs, sharing of travel photos and guides after trips, e-commerce network promotions and coupons, and seasonal, festive, and event-based product packages from the scenic area offering rewards and returns to visitors.
Online and Offline Integration: Jointly Boosting Mount Emei Tourism
At the meeting, Du Hui, Deputy General Manager of Mount Emei Tourism Co., Ltd., also held focused discussions with representatives from two e-commerce websites in Jiangsu, 12 leading travel agencies, and three self-drive alliance representatives. They exchanged views on accelerating the O2O operations of e-commerce websites and traditional travel agencies in the Jiangsu market and jointly promoting the takeoff of the Mount Emei scenic area in Jiangsu, outlining specific measures.
Chen Wen, General Manager of China Comfort Nanjing International Travel Agency, said: “OTA e-commerce and traditional travel agencies each have their strengths. Today’s meeting and discussion are an opportunity for Jiangsu travel businesses to integrate and rely on each other. We are very grateful to Mount Emei for providing such a platform.” Bao Shuti, General Manager of Nanjing China Travel Service, said: “The Jiangsu tourism market has entered the era of independent travelers, with increasingly personalized demands from tourists. The Mount Emei scenic area is transforming, and so must we travel agencies. By combining the 12 major series of products mentioned by President Du today with market demand, we need to develop diverse and personalized products.” Wang Chen, Product Director of Tuniu Travel Network, stated: “After nearly a year of cooperation with Mount Emei, the cooperation model has become very mature. This year’s collaboration will evolve from ticket-based product cooperation to marketing cooperation centered around themed products. This year, Tuniu plans to launch a self-drive event titled ‘Ten Thousand Horses Gallop to Puxian, Eight Prefectures Drive to the Golden Summit,’ connecting eight key cities in Jiangsu to jointly promote Mount Emei.” Wang, head of Jiangsu’s “Free Alliance,” said: “Jiangsu ranks among the top in the nation in terms of car ownership, and Mount Emei has well-developed self-drive bases with convenient transportation and pleasant weather all year round. This year, we plan not only to carry out a series of full self-drive activities but also to launch the first RV self-drive tour to Mount Emei in the Jiangsu market.”
Du, General Manager of Mount Emei Tourism Co., Ltd., expressed appreciation for the remarks of the attendees and extended invitations to all participants for on-site inspections in Mount Emei. Du stated that the development of the Jiangsu tourism market and the growth of Mount Emei tourism are shared endeavors. This year, in Jiangsu, efforts will be made to vertically segment and expand the market, horizontally unite and elevate the market; jointly build product systems themed around sightseeing, prayer, leisure, wellness, and self-driving; collectively drive secondary marketing layouts across the province under a one-plus-N model; together create a marketing matrix combining multiple marketing channels; and jointly carry out various forms of marketing activities.
In 2014, Mount Emei tourism marketing continued to innovate, featuring a rich array of products, including self-drive tours, zodiac-themed journeys, and the Ten Great Vows Buddhist Pilgrimage Tour, among others. One of the current key initiatives is the “East-West-South-North-Central, Self-Drive to Mount Emei’s Peaks” self-drive tour activity. After a recruitment campaign in Chongqing and full coverage by Travel Satellite TV, it has created a unique self-drive journey for Mount Emei. Upcoming recruitment events will be held in Xi’an, Nanning, Changsha, Zhengzhou, and Nanjing, developing six self-drive routes into Sichuan to visit Mount Emei via expressways. This year in Jiangsu, an innovative smart project—the Mount Emei Self-Drive Passport—will be launched to promote the normalization of self-drive activities in Jiangsu. In April, a series of “100 Chartered Flights to Mount Emei, Pray for Blessings at the Golden Summit” chartered flight activities will commence, ensuring monthly events and themes to elevate the Mount Emei brand in the Jiangsu market.