Recently, the launch ceremony of the large-scale public welfare campaign “Poverty Alleviation through Tourism – Industry Associations in Action,” organized by the China Tourism Association, hosted by the Women’s Tourism Committee of the China Tourism Association and the China Women’s Development Foundation, and co-organized by relevant professional associations and tourism industry associations from 32 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across the country, was held at the China National Museum of Women and Children. Attendees included Gu Xiulian, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People’s Congress; Du Jiang, Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration and Vice President of the China Tourism Association; Ou Qingping, Deputy Director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development; Deng Li, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Secretary-General of the All-China Women’s Federation; and Huang Qingyi, Former Party Group Secretary, Vice Chairperson, First Secretary-General of the All-China Women’s Federation, and Chairperson of the China Women’s Development Foundation.
In her speech, Gu Xiulian said that General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that eradicating poverty, improving people’s livelihood, and gradually achieving common prosperity for all are the essential requirements of socialism. The whole Party and society must work together to form a strong synergy in poverty alleviation and development. Gu emphasized that poverty alleviation through tourism is a powerful action in implementing the important speech of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the central government's poverty alleviation strategy. Poverty alleviation through tourism helps achieve local employment and entrepreneurship for rural women, which not only improves their family life but also alleviates social issues such as left-behind children and empty-nest elderly in rural areas. Poverty alleviation through tourism achieves multiple goals with far-reaching significance.
Du Jiang spoke highly of this event. He said that poverty alleviation through tourism is a new extension of the functions of tourism and a new field for the development of the tourism industry. This public welfare fundraising campaign “Poverty Alleviation through Tourism – Industry Associations in Action,” hosted by the China Tourism Association, is an important measure to support the national strategy for poverty alleviation through tourism. The Tourism Education Fund, as the first charitable public welfare fund in China’s tourism industry, provides a good platform and channel for the entire industry to participate in the strategy of poverty alleviation through tourism. It reflects the solidarity and collective development of the national tourism industry.
The public welfare project “Tourism Education Fund” was established in October 2014 by the Women’s Tourism Committee of the China Tourism Association under the China Women’s Development Foundation. Its aim is to help impoverished women lift themselves out of poverty and achieve prosperity through measures such as providing vocational skills training and financial support for rural homestay startups, thereby promoting the construction of new rural areas and the development of rural tourism in China. The fund has set a three-year goal for the “Ten Hundred Thousand Project,” namely helping to plan 10 beautiful villages, supporting 100 entrepreneurial role models, training 1,000 rural tourism management personnel, and enhancing the tourism vocational skills of 10,000 impoverished women. Last year, the fund was used for the first time to provide training for rural tourism practitioners in Liping County and Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, achieving positive results and receiving widespread acclaim. This year, the fund will establish two think tanks — one for tourism training instructors and experts, and one for rural tourism planning experts — and continue to carry out training in Guizhou, Yunnan, Heilongjiang, and other regions, with plans to train 2,000 people.
The national tourism industry associations have jointly issued a public welfare fundraising initiative, calling on more member units to participate in the fundraising activities in various flexible ways. In addition to cash donations, donations can be made based on the characteristics of their own enterprises, such as donating a hotel stay, an attraction ticket, or a tourism product. The China Women’s Development Foundation will auction these items through relevant portal websites, and the funds raised will be pooled into the foundation’s account and used entirely for the implementation of this public welfare project. All donations and the use of funds will be transparent and open. The donation amounts and the usage of the special funds by each unit will be publicly displayed on the websites of the China Tourism Association and the China Women’s Development Foundation at the end of each year. The initiative hopes that through the efforts of national tourism industry associations, the tourism industry will take action to contribute love and strength to poverty alleviation through tourism, rural tourism, and industry development.
This event is another nationwide joint initiative by national tourism industry associations following their previous joint appeal for civilized tourism and industry self-discipline, reflecting the positive role of tourism industry associations in mobilizing industry forces to participate in industry development and their willingness to take on social responsibility. On-site donations were made by industry associations and enterprises including the Sichuan Tourism Association, Shandong Tourism Association, Jiangxi Tourism Association, China Science and Technology Museum, 360 Public Welfare Fund, CYTS Holdings Co., Ltd., Beijing Capital Tourism Hotel Management (Group) Co., Ltd., Junlan Hotel Group, New Century Tourism Group, Beijing Park Management Center, and Aiteyou Travel Network. The value of donated cash and tourism product vouchers exceeded 2 million yuan. More than 100 people attended the event, including representatives from the China Tourism Association and related associations, the Women’s Foundation, and donating enterprises.
