Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) – The Fifth Session of the 14th Sichuan Provincial People's Congress opened in Chengdu on March 3rd, with Sichuan Governor Shi Xiaolin delivering the government work report. The report indicated that Sichuan received over 1.1 billion tourists in 2025, including 3.4 million inbound tourists.
Over 389,000 Thai tourists visited Sichuan throughout the year, and Chengdu ranked among the top five most popular inbound tourism cities nationwide during the New Year's Day holiday… Sichuan's inbound tourism popularity continues to rise.
Against this backdrop, Jiuzhaigou, a top-tier cultural and tourism destination, performed exceptionally well. Lei Yuqin, a representative to the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress and senior economist at the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area Management Bureau, revealed that the scenic area received over 500,000 inbound tourists last year, a year-on-year increase of 71%; Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan were the largest source of tourists, accounting for approximately 40%.
Lei Yuqin stated that as a scenic area positioned as "Jiuzhaigou of the World" from its inception, Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area has consistently promoted its international presence. In recent years, it has leveraged the visa-free policy to accelerate its global brand dissemination: on the one hand, it conducts promotional activities in key markets such as Southeast Asia and Europe, inviting local travel agents to conduct on-site inspections of its routes and deepening cooperation; on the other hand, it innovatively holds the "Jiuzhaigou Through the Eyes of the World" series of events, inviting social media influencers from 43 countries and regions worldwide to visit Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area, further enhancing its international exposure; in terms of service, the scenic area has installed AI translation machines to overcome language barriers, effectively improving tourist satisfaction; and it supports mainstream international payment methods to address practical difficulties faced by international tourists.
Emei Mountain Scenic Area, located in Leshan, Sichuan Province, focuses on building a world-class tourist destination, using inbound tourism as a key driver to continuously improve its convenient services, distinctive products, and international promotion. Wang Yang, a representative of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress and a staff member of the Emei Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee, stated that in terms of visitor reception, the scenic area received a total of 250,400 inbound tourists (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) in 2025, an increase of 32% year-on-year.
Wang Yang introduced that last year, Emei Mountain Scenic Area implemented measures to promote inbound tourism, including offering ticket discounts; strengthening overseas promotion through participation in international forums and overseas cultural and tourism promotion conferences; deepening cooperation with institutions in South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and other regions; and simultaneously optimizing services, including upgrading the ticketing system to support convenient ticket purchases and passage for overseas tourists, setting up dedicated channels and bilingual guidance, improving multilingual guides and signage, and deploying foreign-related payment facilities covering multiple scenarios, comprehensively optimizing the inbound tourism experience.
In addition, the surge in inbound tourism is closely related to Sichuan's increased international flight routes and hosting of international sporting events. The report stated that Sichuan supported Chengdu in building a gateway-type international aviation hub, opening, resuming, and increasing the frequency of 44 international and regional passenger and cargo routes last year, with passenger throughput exceeding 90 million, ranking third in the country. Regarding sporting events, Sichuan hosted more than 50 international sporting events last year, enriching the experience for inbound tourists.
This year, Sichuan will continue to focus on the inbound tourism market. The government work report clearly states that in 2026, efforts will be made to optimize the integrated development of tourism in areas such as Greater Emei, Greater Shangri-La, Greater Jiuzhaigou, and Greater Shu Road, creating world-class cultural and tourism landmarks and launching high-quality routes with global appeal. The report also aims to expand the international influence of attractions such as Sanxingdui, Giant Pandas, Dujiangyan Irrigation System, and the Three Su Temples, implementing a global promotion plan for Bashu cultural tourism and a "Attracting Tourists to Sichuan" initiative. Regarding international sporting events, the report calls for successfully hosting the ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, the Triathlon World Cup, and the Chengdu Open, and striving to attract more world-class and national-level events to the region. (End)
