The first Sichuan Culture and Tourism Development Convention, to be held on April 29 in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, is expected to inject new momentum into the integration of culture and tourism in Sichuan with the releases of a series of new policies and measures.

As one of the highlights, the list of the first 10 Tianfu Tourism Counties will be announced at the convention.

The Tianfu Tourism Counties project, sponsored by Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, is a key measure for the province to promote the integration of culture and tourism at the county-level, and thus improve the overall quality of Sichuan's tourism.

Each county named as a Tianfu Tourism County will receive a provincial financial incentive of 30 million yuan ($ 4.5 million), according to the department of culture and tourism.

In five years, the province is scheduled to build 50 Tianfu Tourism Counties with distinctive features, strong industrial strength, excellent business environment, perfect service facilities, as well as a great reputation at home and abroad, the department said.

Hong Qinghua, founder of online travel agency Lvmama and chairman of Jingyu Group, pointed out that Sichuan is already a big tourism destination, with each of the Tianfu Tourism Counties able to play an important role in further improvements.

"Many places in Sichuan have good cultural and tourism resources, but if you want to transform the resources into a value-creating IP, you must combine cultural creativity, strong planning, and strong operations," he said, adding that it is necessary to give full play to the diverse and rich cultural and tourism resources of Sichuan.

Hong said each of the Tianfu Tourism Counties should be developed into an IP of Sichuan tourism, and the various elements of the tourism industrial chain should work together to build Sichuan into a world-class tourist destination.

Xin Hongye, deputy director of the Information Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said the construction of a Tianfu Tourism County should be tailored to local conditions, that is, to solve the county's problems with its own resources, rather than copying others.

In order to further stimulate the development of culture and tourism in Sichuan, the province has carried out a series of other activities such as the selection of Characteristic Towns, the 2019 Golden Panda Award, and the selection of outstanding leading enterprises in the culture and tourism industry.

"In the context of the integration of culture and tourism, the 2019 Golden Panda Award was the first to expand from the tourism system to the culture and tourism system," said an official at the department. He said the selection of advanced units has expanded from tourist attractions and travel agencies to include public libraries, cultural centers, township comprehensive cultural stations, etc.

Talented local individuals have also gone from being from provincial tourism practitioners to practitioners in art, cultural heritage and public culture.

The main evaluation criteria of Characteristic Towns has also changed from tourism income to innovation, creativity and transformation ability during the integration of culture and tourism, said the official.

In order to cultivate and strengthen the local market, the selection of outstanding leading enterprises in the culture and tourism industry includes nine major categories and 43 middle categories in the cultural field.

In the view of Ren Ding, chairman of the Sichuan Tourism Investment Group, 2019 is a "big year" for the development of cultural tourism in Sichuan province. As a representative of Sichuan's culture and tourism industry, he said the company will strive to play a leading role.