The 2020 Shandong Tourism Development Conference was held on Sept 17 in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, in a bid to accelerate the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industries in the province.

In his speech, Li Ganjie, governor of Shandong, said that the cultural and tourism industries are of great importance to the overall national development strategy and the region's high-quality development.

Li Ganjie, governor of Shandong, delivers a speech at the 2020 Shandong Tourism Development Conference. [Photo/iqilu.com]

Li urged the province's cultural and tourism authorities to launch more supportive policies and promotional activities to revive the tourism industry which has been severely impacted by the pandemic.

He said that Shandong will continue to upgrade and promote the "Friendly Shandong" tourism brand, and expand online and livestream channels to promote the province's cultural and tourism resources.

The province will ramp up efforts to foster integrated development of new business forms such as cultural experience tours, study tours, red education tours (visits to revolutionary sites), healthcare themed tours and rural home stay tours.

Shandong will also work to improve services and facilities including accommodation, transportation and entertainment to boost tourism.

Officials from the province's cities also introduced their cultural and tourism development strategies at the conference.