Dancers perform in front of an ancient city gate in Qufu, Jining, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/jnnews.tv]

Jining Confucius Cultural Tourism Group, a State-owned company located in Jining, East China's Shandong province, has been intensifying efforts to promote the integrated high-quality development of the city's culture and tourism industries.

The company, established in May 2019 by the Jining Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Jining government, operates a number of places of interest including the three Confucian Sites, the Temple of Mencius, Mencius Family Mansion, Liangshan Mountain, the Weishan Lake, and the Taibai Lake.

During the first half of 2021, the company's tourist sites had received 13.92 million visits and made 10.2 million yuan ($1.57 million) in revenue, which is equivalent to 95 percent and 90 percent respectively of the 2019 amounts.

With the aim of improving the tourist experience, the company plans to upgrade infrastructure, such as parking lots, toilets, benches, and signs at tourist sites, as well as roads around these places. It will also introduce five recommended tour routes and set up service centers at the city's railway stations and airports.

In addition, the company plans to make full use of digital technology to develop more products and improve its management capabilities. It will launch a three dimensional panoramic virtual edition of the Three Confucian Sites, namely the Confucius Temple, the Confucius Cemetery, and the Confucius Family Mansion, as well as an online public information service center. The building of the service center is currently underway and expected to be completed by this September. Part of it, including a big data analysis platform, is already finished.

The company has been actively seeking partnerships with industry-leading companies to develop various tourism products and launch marketing campaigns. It has cooperated with Zhejiang Send Intelligent Technology Co to hold online and offline promotional events, significantly boosting the city's tourism revenue.