At the 9th Western China International Economy & Trade Fair in Chengdu, Sichuan signed-up 48 tourism projects with a total investment of more than CNY55 billion.

Two Hong Kong companies will invest CNY1.2 billion and CNY800 million repectively for a water town theme park and a tourism industrial park as well as a cultural tourism area. The central financial authority plans to offer CNY15 billion as a post-quake reconstruction fund to renew the Sichuan tourism market over next three years; and from May 2008 through December 2010, Sichuan tourism enterprises would be exempt from all the taxes. Meanwhile, the Sichuan provincial government has implemented a series of preferential policies to attract more social capital and investments.

During the fair, Chongqing, Xi'an and Guiyang announced that they have formally joined the Western China Tourism Marketing Alliance, and have signed an agreement on regional tourism cooperation with Chengdu, Kunming and Guilin. The six cities in Western China will take advantage of international routes to design and develop boutique itineraries, aiming at building a large tourism brand in Western China.

(China Hospitality News November 4, 2008)