In just seven days, on June 6, the 2014 China Self-Driving Route Selection will officially launch in Kunming, Yunnan. How will this year’s selection unfold from June to March 6 of next year to identify and create 36 annual star routes for tens of millions of self-driving travelers in China? Who will be the six strategic partners, the 30 deep partners, and the organizers forming the 2014 selection committee? What upgrades or changes have there been in the partner lineup compared to last year? Which 36 selection opinion leaders will recommend 66 nominated routes for nationwide netizens to experience and vote on? These questions, of great interest to professionals and users in the self-driving tourism industry, will be answered one by one at the launch event. This year also marks the first time the selection launch event has been held in a major tourist province, receiving strong support from the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission.
Why was Yunnan chosen as the launch site for the selection?
First, it’s the common choice of driving enthusiasts across the country. Colorful Yunnan boasts magnificent landscapes, beautiful scenery, profound culture, and rich ethnic charm. In last year’s selection, Yunnan had six routes—such as the Ancient Tea Horse Road, Lijiang, Luoping, Dali, Hani Rice Terraces, and Puzhehei—shortlisted among the 66 nominated routes. After three months of experiential voting, netizens across the country cast 100,833 and 57,380 votes respectively to send "Hani Rice Terraces: A Masterpiece Carved by Nature" and "Yunnan: Exploring Fuxian Lake and Sunset over Puzhehei" into the 2013 list of 36 Must-Drive Routes. At the award ceremony held in Shanghai on March 21 of this year, these two routes won the gold awards in the short-haul photography category and the mid-haul nature category respectively. Whether it was the nominated routes initially recommended by opinion leaders, the annual routes voted on by netizens nationwide, or the final annual awards jointly determined by opinion leaders, partners, and netizens, Yunnan dominated and won the favor of driving enthusiasts across the country.
Second, it’s an important choice for Yunnan’s goal to become a strong tourism province. In developing self-driving tourism, Yunnan not only has unique tourism resources and a well-connected road network, but also a continuously growing self-driving tourism market. In recent years, the Yunnan Tourism Commission has been actively coordinating with local tourism bureaus across the province to design and recommend premium cross-provincial and cross-border self-driving routes. It has also promoted the planning, construction, and development of self-driving service stations, campsites, clubs, and specialized companies, making colorful Yunnan a top destination province for domestic and international self-driving travelers. Therefore, the Yunnan Tourism Commission highly values the value of the China Self-Driving Route Selection—an industry platform that aggregates resources and influences nationwide—in boosting self-driving tourism in Yunnan. After repeated invitations and considering Yunnan’s determination and measures to promote self-driving tourism development, the organizing committee ultimately chose Yunnan as the launch site.
Lastly, it’s an innovative choice by the route selection committee. Choosing to launch the selection in a major tourist province also reflects the committee’s desire to strengthen collaboration with resource-rich provinces across the country starting this year, using the self-driving route selection to promote the transformation and upgrading of the tourism industry. This year’s selection will be more down-to-earth. From the route collection phase from June to September, to the experiential voting phase from October to December, and then to the award ceremony phase from January to March of the following year, all three stages will involve active participation from tourism-related enterprises and institutions such as tourism bureaus, scenic spots, travel agencies, clubs, hotels, media, opinion leaders, and users nationwide. Their on-site feedback will be collected to ensure that this year’s 36 annual star routes are jointly created by national resource managers, route designers, and users.
Additionally, the organizing committee will present a special award to Yunnan at the launch event. The newly reprinted 10,000 copies of the book “2014 36 Must-Drive Routes for Driving Enthusiasts” will also be released. Innovative activities developed in cooperation with the Yunnan Tourism Commission to offer discounts to driving enthusiasts nationwide will soon be unveiled. Stay tuned.