Eleven key cultural tourism projects sign at the opening ceremony of the Tai'an Culture and Tourism Industry High-quality Development Conference on June 1. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2024 Tai'an Culture and Tourism Industry High-quality Development Conference opened in Tai'an, East China's Shandong province, on June 1, serving as a platform to strengthen exchanges for the high-quality development of the city's cultural tourism sector.

The two-day event included an opening ceremony, a work conference related to the city's cultural tourism development, and a salon for boosting Tai'an's leisure tourism.

Eleven key cultural tourism projects with a total investment of 11.87 billion yuan ($1.64 billion) were signed at the opening ceremony, looking to boost the high-quality development of the cultural tourism industry.

To showcase Tai'an's city image and highlight Mount Tai's cultural heritage, the opening ceremony launched a list of 20 featured local cultural products across four categories. This initiative aims to boost cultural industries and promote the integration of Tai'an's cultural and tourism sectors.

Mount Tai Shigandang cultural products are among the featured local cultural products released at the opening ceremony. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

As the host of the conference, Xintai, a county-level city in Tai'an, is striving to both shape tourism through culture and highlight culture through tourism. Currently, there are nine national 3A or above tourist attractions in the city, as well as 12 large-scale culture and tourism enterprises.

In recent years, Tai'an has vigorously promoted cultural and tourism integration as one of its six key tasks. Resulting progress is evident in the introduction by the city of a discount travel package linking 21 scenic spots and attractions and directing the flow of visitors from Mount Tai to the entire region.