China and France are drawing the future together, and the beauty of mountains is blooming all over the world
On May 29, the "International Mountain Tourism Day (IMTD) 2024" Theme Events were successfully held in Nice, the capital city of the French department of Alpes-Maritimes, France. During the "Mountain Tourism Promotion & Sino-European Entrepreneurs Exchange Conference", Laurent Blondeel, Founder of Maxi-events; Vincent Doutres, Director of Marketing Commercial of Pic du Midi, France; Thibaut Muller, Chargé de Mission Pôle Marketing Offer Départment, Comité Régional du Tourisme CÔTE d'AZUR FRANCE; Wen Weiya, representative of Guizhou Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Director of Guizhou International Mountain Tourism Development Center, China; Sophie Poudou, Director of Tourisme Responsable & RSE of the Office de Tourisme Métropolitain Nice Côte d'Azur, France; Cheng Lixia, representative of Wuzhifeng Scenic Area in Mangshan, China delivered speeches.
● Laurent Blondeel
Founder of Maxi-events
The short film shows over 20 years of professional experience in outdoor sports.
At the top of the world-renowned MaXi-Race in Annecy, these elite runners have set numerous records on the outdoor trails, creating many glorious moments: 2015 Trail World Championships, 2022 European Master Championship, 2023 U18 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships,European Off-road Running Championships a few days later.
MaXi-Race in Annecy
All of this has been made possible thanks to our close ties and cooperation with various international sports federations. We share a common goal: To demonstrate the most beautiful parts of the world through sports, and by promoting the values of respect, participation, excellence, and unity. What is the point of the elite model if it doesn’t serve the participation of the broader public? Sharing, excelling, participating, and the pursuit of enjoyment are what mobilize both individuals and teams to fight together.
Guided by these principles, we have collaborated with Chinese local governments, sports associations, and communities for the past decade to organize trail runs that everyone can participate in. Whether it’s: Maxi-Race China Yangshuo Station in Guangxi Province, Maxi-Race China Jiangshan Station in Zhejiang Province, and the upcoming race near the world-famous Three Gorges Dam in Yichang City, Hubei Province.
We strive to create lasting friendships and work with numerous representatives, political leaders, and local guides. We aim to inspire European runners to explore the rich culture and sports of China and serve as a source of inspiration for Chinese runners. Therefore, they, through their efforts and self-discovery, can achieve personal excellence.
MaXi-Race in China
Now, we’re still at the beginning of this original story—what I call “self-discovery.” In your personal, professional, or athletic life, have you ever collided with yourself? How did you find the resources and answers you needed to solve the problem? Or were you the only one who had the answer? Sport helps you follow in the footsteps of personal self-discovery, where "the world you inhabit becomes a reflection of who you are." Allow me to quote the sage and philosopher Saint Augustine to end up my speech: “If I know myself, I know you.” This beautiful statement shows how we strengthen our friendships through the MaXi-Race, especially the bond between China and France.
● Vincent Doutres
Director of Marketing Commercial of Pic du Midi, France
I will introduce our iconic peak in the Pyrenees, which is small but very famous. I will first introduce the Pyrenees, and its various tourism trump cards, because the Pyrenees Mountains are huge. We are in the south of France, in the middle of a mountain range shared by France and Spain. The Pyrenees have a strong culture, and a long history of tourism originating from spas and the climbing of the first Pyrenean peaks. Therefore, our trump card remains our inherent DNA. The Pyrenees Mountains thus form a bridge between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Today, there are 34 mountain resorts in the French Pyrenees and over 20 on the Spanish side. The Pyrenees mountain range usually means environmental protection, and as we are often told, this is the wild side of the Pyrenees mountain range. As you should know, a large part of our territory is protected and maintained through the Pyrenees National Park. We also have Odessa National Park on the Spanish side. Nature reserves such as the Catalan Pyrenees Park. Therefore, this land is sustainable for tourism because of its unique culture and its ambitions.
Location of the Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is also an ideal place for cycling. People often mention us, and many people learn about us through various stages of the Tour de France. The Tourmalet or Tourmalet Pass is one of the most famous passes in the Tour de France, and the same is true on the Spanish side. It is also one of the most famous passes in the Tour of Spain, which reached the Pyrenees last year. In addition, I would like to remind everyone that we also received the President of France and the President of China at Tourmalai Pass two weeks ago.
The Pyrenees Mountains offer tourism activities almost all year round, and have achieved certain results in terms of diversification. We talk a lot about the different seasons. What you should know is that the so-called summer season accounts for 30% to 50% of the number of overnight stays in the Pyrenees. This is an average, but the fact is that is usually the case, it is a point that can not be ignored and is an important feature of a mountain tourism activity. Among the different trumps we have, I will finally talk to you about the utilization of hot springs. Regarding the utilization of hot springs, we just talked about recuperation, which can serve as an argument. Indeed, the Pyrenees mountain range and its surrounding regions, such as Occitanie or Aquitaine, have most hot spring resorts concentrated here. As far as hot spring destinations are concerned, we are undoubtedly the most densely populated region in France. Therefore, this is a land or jurisdiction that looks quite good and is developing or influencing new international tourists. This is already the case, as international tourists account for 15 to 20% of our total year-round arrivals to the various mountain resorts in the Pyrenees.
Related facilities in Pyrenees
So, I would like to introduce to you in particular Pic-du-Midi, which is one of the symbols of the Pyrenees, perhaps one of the main symbols. Therefore, for those who are familiar with the location or southwestern France, they can usually observe us from highways or different valleys. Pic-du-Midi has a long history of tourism, especially the scientific history of nearly 150 years. This is a scientific and astronomical observatory built in the late 19th century, which is a scientific place connected with tourism. We always talk about the diversification of tourism activities, but here, it is an example of the diversification from scientific venues to the tourism industry. The development of tourism here started in the 2000s, and to ensure a balance between scientific and academic research, tourism activities have become a regulator, or at least help balance scientific activities, making it sustainable to this day, as this scientific base exists year-round at Pic-du-Midi. Now, we can quickly learn the details. Pic-du-Midi, we will have a short video at the end. It is located in southwest France. You can see this cable car, through which people can reach an altitude of 2877 meters. Its highlight is the panoramic view from east to west. Therefore, it should be noted that at night, you can see the Biarritz Lighthouse, as well as the lights of Toulouse or Barcelona. Therefore, 140,000 tourists join us every year to visit here, and nearly 7,000 people stay there overnight because we also have a small alpine hotel with an experience program of tourism and scientific observation, including a meal of delicious food during our break time, which we will introduce to you later.
Pic-du-Midi
Today, as you can see, we have facilities that can attract and receive different international tourists. We certainly have some immersive amusement programs, such as pontoons, walking in a vacuum, and an edutainment laboratory that allows observatory scientists to provide educational perspectives to family visitors. At the same time, it also has projects suitable for social elites. For example, different students from the University of Toulouse visit and join us all year round. We just talked about the reserve and the stars. Here is an example of Walburg. Ten years ago, Pic-du-Midi was the first certified starry sky reserve in France and even Europe. Indeed, this is a program initiated by Pic-du-Midi, but it enables us to radiate to the whole jurisdiction, because today, we accompany the city level of the region to provide consultation and awareness-raising methods, which has reduced the light impact in this jurisdiction by 30% in just 10 years and enabled us to maintain the inherent quality of night observation.
Planetarium in the Pic-du-Midi
In the Star Reserve, we have a planetarium at an altitude of 2877 meters, which is the highest in Europe. Of course, there are also different activities carried out using the dome. We are also committed to sustainable development with local suppliers to provide visitors with abundant cuisine at the peak. So we try to unite different producers in the region. We have Nordport in Bigor, which is undoubtedly one of the most famous products. We have communicated with the Agricultural Chamber of Commerce regarding certification, highlighting Michelin-starred chefs in the province or region, as well as various gastronomic projects.
Skiing in the Pyrenees
In terms of tourist programs, you can see that we have several alpine freeride skiing spots and the Tourmalai House, which opened last year as a venue for exhibitions, for demonstrating the value of nighttime excursions, i.e., the Star Sanctuary, and as a base for receiving tourists who come from the Tourmalai Pass on bicycles. The Toulmalai Pass received the visit of the head of state, so 15 days ago, we had the opportunity to receive all the officials of this state diplomatic visit in these buildings. We can see the House of Tourmalet and I invite all of you to have a look. We talked earlier about the Experimental Dome in Warburg. We also offer an experimental dome to visitors throughout the year.
Viewing platform in the Pic-du-Midi
As for the tourism synergy between Pic-du-Midi and its jurisdiction and other scenic spots, it is only a stone's throw away from Gavarni, one of the UNESCO World Heritage List, which is the real border between France and Spain. UNESCO, which I mention to you because we are also on its list, we are candidates for the UNESCO accreditation list in the coming years. We've already started the program, so I hope to be able to tell you that we've been selected and officially docketed on our next visit. Monte Gavarni is a mineral-rich place with a magnificent natural circus. We have also formed a tourism synergy with the Pyrenees National Park, such as the Spanish Bridge in Cottray, which is a natural little Eden with lakes and streams. Moreover, Pic-du-Midi is less than an hour's drive from Lourdes' pilgrimage site, so international tourists visit Lourdes’ pilgrimage site and spiritual infrastructure every year. So, on the small basis of a small tourist area, we have different important attractions that today make our Pyrenees and Pic-du-Midi radiate far-reaching influence.
● Thibaut Muller
Chargé de Mission Pôle Marketing Offer Départment, Comité Régional du Tourisme CÔTE d'AZUR FRANCE
The Côte d’Azur Tourism board is the official entity responsible for overseeing the Côte d’Azur France brand and functioning as the territorial marketing agency tasked with executing the promotional strategy for the destination across national and international markets. In close collaboration with the Conseil Départemental des Alpes-Maritimes, we deploy around a hundred actions each year aimed at enhancing and increasing the visibility of the destination. I will not go into detail but we participate in trade shows and coordinated promotional operations in France and abroad. We organize also inbound press and professional fam trips, we are engage in working groups and network activities, with an increasingly strong digital focus.
As mentioned in the discussions this morning, the Conseil Départemental des Alpes-Maritimes initiated the GREEN Deal policy to implement sustainable development actions, by supporting virtuous initiatives and assisting local stakeholders in their ecological transition. The Côte d’Azur France Tourism Board's action plan integrates this commitment to promote more sustainable and responsible tourism for our region, focusing on the following points:
·Advancing the position of partner communities at both national and international levels, and supporting year-round tourism development, especially during the shoulder seasons.
·Bringing together all local stakeholders within a shared and coordinated communication approach around the Côte d’Azur France brand.
·Retaining nearby tourism while seeking to attract new first-time visitors.
·Unifying, animating, and promoting the local ecosystem by encouraging consumption and spending.
·Implementing measurement and analysis tools to understand, qualify, and quantify visitor flows (Tourism Observatory).
Indeed, one of the main challenges for our destination is a better spatial and temporal distribution of tourist traffic. The Côte d’Azur, also known as the "French Riviera," is the second most popular tourist destination in France after Paris, with around 1 million inhabitants and 11 million visitors each year. The Côte d’Azur is world-renowned for its coastline, dotted with must-see seaside resorts such as Nice, Antibes, Cannes, Monaco, and Menton. Here, you can enjoy an undeniable quality of life, over 300 days of sunshine per year, and very mild winter temperatures.
Source: Drone 06
However, the key point of this presentation is to consider that the Côte d’Azur is not only a coastal destination. The destination is full of contrast with a unique positioning between the sea and the mountains. We benefit from an exceptional location and a diversity of landscapes with assets that many envy. The most meaningful image of this richness is that you can enjoy breakfast by the sea and then, just two hours later, go hiking or skiing in the mountain resorts. In fact, 80% of the territory is mountainous. The first Alpine peak is less than 40 km from the coast. I love this illustration of the Côte d’Azur map because it highlights the rich diversity of the territory. Different atmospheres follow one another, from sunny beaches to authentic perched villages, passing through exceptional natural sites.
As you can see, the Côte d’Azur is an incredible playground! This is where my role takes on full meaning, through the promotion of themes such as adventure tourism, outdoor activities, and sports. I am passionate about encouraging visitors to discover or rediscover the destination through lesser-known but authentic and environmentally friendly experiences that benefit both visitors and residents. This year, I am working on the design of a travel guide dedicated to sustainable tourism on the Côte d’Azur, which will highlight all the experiences and stakeholders working for sustainable tourism (outdoor activities, agritourism and crafts, ecotourism, low-carbon mobility, and immersion in welcoming and soothing nature). The importance of collective effort, once again.
Source: fabien_damiano
Between the sea and the mountains, there is only a step and four seasons to enjoy them. At the heart of the project, the Mercantour National Park is an ecotourism destination offering a variety of outdoor activities all year round. The trails are accessible for hiking until the first snowfalls, and then turn into snowshoeing or cross-country skiing routes. Outside the park's core, some white-water sports, climbing, or mountain biking can be practiced. The National Park plays an essential role in maintaining biodiversity and preserving natural heritage. Through the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism (CETS) in Protected Areas, the Mercantour National Park has been committed since 2005 to creating an ecotourism offer in its territory alongside its various local partners. I suggest watching a video that will immerse you in the exceptional natural setting of the Mercantour National Park.
Source: Explore Nice Côte d'Azur
The Côte d’Azur has 15 ski resorts connected to the valleys, offering 600 km of ski slopes in winter. Even if you don't stay in a resort, you can still enjoy a day or two at high altitude starting from the coast. The vast majority of mountain sites are open year-round, the connections remain, and many shops stay open. In winter, the major resorts in the Alpes-Maritimes are connected from Nice Saint-Augustin Airport by 100% Snow buses to promote soft and low-carbon mobility. All year round, the network of trains, buses, and tourist shuttles allows for car-free getaways.
I will conclude this presentation by mentioning an initiative that illustrates the desire to develop more sustainable year-round mountain tourism to reconcile tourist activities and environmental preservation. The resorts of Valberg and Auron are labeled “Flocon Vert”. This initiative guarantees the sustainable commitment of mountain tourist destinations through a demanding set of specifications: natural resource management, accessibility, responsible purchasing, and diversification of activities. In Valberg, energy-saving initiatives have reduced electricity consumption by 30%. Auron has successfully upgraded its offerings by urbanizing its territory in a measured manner.
Source: Le Tour de France
On the Côte d’Azur, there is an experience and activities to fulfil every desire: alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, zip-lining... Whether with family, as a couple, or with friends, mountain vacations help to diversify the visitor profiles of the Côte d’Azur France destination. From international stations like Auron, Isola 2000, or Valberg, to village resorts like Beuil Les Launes, La Colmiane Valdeblore, Roubion – Les Buisses, Gréolières-Les-Neiges, Turini Camp d’Argent, Val Pelens, and L’Audibergue – La Moulière, not to mention the Nordic areas of Boréon, Casterino, Saint-Delmas-le-Selvage, Enstenc-Entraunes, or Peïra Cava, each resort has its own identity and assets to attract snow sports enthusiasts, novices or experienced, or simply visitors looking for escape and fresh air. Welcome to our resorts and magnificent mountains!
● Wen Weiya
representative of Guizhou Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Director of Guizhou International Mountain Tourism Development Center, China
Due to the outbreak of COVID-9 pandemic, the ecological safety, life health and life quality attract more and more interests. Relying on its landscape aesthetic form, scientific research value, wellness ecological environment and profound cultural deposits, the mountains provide life support through multiple ecological system services to create time-honored regional cultures, colorful customs and practices and healthy travel experience. Up to now, the mountain tourism has been very important in bridging different cultures in the world, playing an irreplaceable role in the construction of global ecology.
Guizhou is the only province in China that has no plain, 92.5% of which are mountains and hills, with beautiful landscapes, everlasting clear water, colorful cultures and pleasant climate. General Secretary Xi Jinping is very concerned about the tourism development in Guizhou, praising Guizhou as a "Mountain Park" which incisively reveals the connotation and temperament of Guizhou tourism and provides strategic guidelines and further enhances the popularity and reputation of Guizhou tourism.
Beautiful scenery of Guizhou
Taking the advantage of all of its resources and aiming at the mountain tourism, Guizhou constantly devotes enough time and energy to "mountain tourism+", which makes the "Mountain Park" shining with a unique charm: there have been 5 World Natural Heritage sites, 9 5A-level tourist attractions, 40 resorts at the provincial level or above, 18 national scenic spots, 32 national forest parks, 10 national geological parks and 11 national nature reserves up to now. In addition, it also builds Guiyang and Anshun "mountain tourism + distribution center + summer vacation" tourism function area, Qianxinan "outdoor sports + vacation wellness" tourism function area, Bijie "mountain tourism + vacation wellness" tourism functional area and other new comprehensive mountain tourism industry. In 2023, the total number of tourists in the province was 636 million, and the total tourism revenue was 74,456 billion yuan. Guizhou is increasingly becoming an ideal secret fo
Guizhou · Longgong Longzi field
In Guizhou, the large park, you can travel in the beautiful landscapes, cultivate your body and soul, exercise and relax, to make your life better!
Guizhou is a beautiful park full of mountains and waters. The unique Karst landscape has created the enchanting natural scenery of Guizhou while making Guizhou a kingdom of mountains and a world of water. Guizhou is the province with the most World Natural Heritage Sites in China, being of majestic peaks and hidden but amazing spots, like Fanjing Mountain, Wanfeng Forest and Chishui Danxia Buddha Light Rock. Guizhou is the region with the most widely distributed and typically developed Karst cave. Zhijin Cave, ranking at "the first of the six most beautiful tourist caves in China", is known as "No mountain is worthy of visiting if you have travelled in Huangshan, no landscape can be on the par with Zhijin Cave"; Suiyang Shuanghe Cave ranks the fourth in the world and the first in Asia in terms of detection length, which is called "China's Gate to the Center of the Earth". Guizhou is also a "province with thousands of waterfalls". There are Huangguoshu Waterfall, Libo Xiaoqikong Laya Waterfall and Maling River Waterfall.
Guizhou · Fanjing Mountain
Guizhou is a paradise for mountain sports. Karst landscape has created countless caves, lakes, waterfalls, canyons and sinkholes in the province. Besides, as 50 of 100 high bridges in the world locate in Guizhou, Guizhou is known as the "Museum of World Bridges". With an average altitude of about 1,100 meters, Guizhou is ideal for outdoor sports such as marathon, paragliding, rock climbing, low-altitude flying and bungee jumping from a high bridge, etc. Outdoor sports can be carried out more than 330 days a year. In addition, there are 8 major ski resorts as well, so it is called "the paradise of outdoor sports". The International Mountain Tourism Alliance permanently settles in Guizhou. Meanwhile, the International Mountain Tourism and Outdoor Sports Conference has been successfully held for the successive five years in Guizhou, becoming a famous brand and platform for international mountain tourism and outdoor sports exchange and cooperation. Guizhou has a wide variety of sports events. The Qinglong "24 Road Turning" China Auto Rally, Liupanshui Summer International Marathon, "Flying Guizhou" International Paragliding Competition and Ziyun Getu River International Rock-Climbing Festival are well known at home and abroad. The cycling route around Fanjing Mountain and the "Run Guizhou" mountain running series have been selected as national sports industry bases, national sports tourism top-quality events and Golden Week sports tourism top-quality routes. Guizhou sports tourism is of various forms. Guizhou is one of the first National Sports Tourism Demonstration Zones. By present, it has 104 ecological sports parks and 100 car camping bases built and 95 national sports tourism top-quality projects awarded, the quantity of which ranks first in the country; additionally, 106 routes have been selected as the sports tourism top-quality routes in Guizhou, while 4 sports tourism golden routes have been cultivated, including cave exploration, coldplay forest, water sports, road running and fitness, mountain biking and other remarkable items.
Outdoor sports in Guizhou
Guizhou is fantastic and colorful in terms of its culture landscape. Guizhou's mountains and waters breeds its colorful mountain civilization, and diversified cultures are deeply communicated and growing endlessly there. Guizhou has a gorgeous culture of ethnic groups. 17 hereditary minority groups living there have created a large number of unique ethnic cultures and intangible cultural heritages on the land, which is known as the "Culture of Thousand Islands". The rich and colorful ethnic festivals, ethnic dances such as the Lusheng Dance and the Wooden Drum Dance, distinct buildings such as Drum Towers, Hanging Foot Towers and Wind and Rain Bridges as well as craft products such as Miao embroidery, batik and silver are full of ethic customs.Last year, the BA and village of Guizhou Village, which has great national characteristics in southeast Guizhou, exceeded the circle, turning this place into a hot tourist destination. French TV also went to southeast Guizhou to shoot programs in 2016.
Miao nationality in Guizhou
Guizhou is a blessed place for recreation and relaxation. The unique ecological environment, the pleasant climate with warm winters and cool summers and the rich and high-quality tourism resources make Guizhou a blessed place for recreation and relaxation. It is a "park" for summer vacation. With the average altitude of 1,100 meters and the average temperature of 23℃ in summer, about 3/4 of places in Guizhou can be resorts for summer vacation, especially, Guiyang and Liupanshui which have been named as "China's Top 10 Summer Vacation Cities" and Bijie, Anshun, Qiannan and Qianxinan being known as summer vacation cities in China. With 62.12% of a forest coverage rate, the annual average value of PM2.5 of below 50 and a high concentration of negative oxygen ions, Guizhou is the worthy of "natural oxygen bar". It is a paradise of hot spring. There are 88 counties having hot spring resources in Guizhou, including 203 hot springs (geothermal) monomer and 77 top-quality resources with large water and good water quality. The area and richness of mountain hot spring resources is more than the one in Austria and Switzerland which has the best mountain hot spring tourism projects in the world, so Guizhou is a veritable "Hot Spring Province". Besides, Guizhou is also the garden of tea culture tourism and leisure. Guizhou is the only tea growing region in China with low latitude, high altitude, cloudy weather and non-polluted plateau as well as the largest tea-producing province in China. Its tea plantation area constantly ranks first in China for 8 years, with 7 million mu of tea plantations all over Qianzhong. Meitan 10,000 mu Tea Sea, the Heart of Tea Sea in Fenggang, Yuqing Songyan Tea Farm, Duyun Luoshike Tea Farm, Kaiyang Yunshan Tea Sea and others are popular to purify your eyes, heart and lungs. Guizhou can be your comfortable and livable "home".Guizhou is praised as a model for "Beautiful Countryside" construction in China, including 724 villages listed in the Protection List of Chinese Traditional Villages, with its number ranking first in China. There are the largest Miao village in the world, Xijiang Thousand-House Miao Village, and one of the largest Dong villages in China, Zhao Xing Dong Village; in addition, there are also other beautiful villages such as Zunyi Huamao Village, Qianxi Huawu Village, Jiangkou Yunshe Village, Wudang Pianpo Village, Leishan Langde Village and Xingyi Nahui Village. Every village has its distinguished landscapes for you to visit.
Guizhou tea culture tourism and leisure
At present, adhering to promoting the high-quality development of the tourism based on a big picture thinking, we commit to building a world-class mountain tourism destination and the domestic first-class vacation and wellness destination, while constructing Guizhou to be a strong culture and tourism province.
Our mountain park is ready for you. Relying on the mountain tourism, Guizhou continuously improves and perfects its traffic, communication and other infrastructures. At the same time, with various landscapes gathering in Guizhou, lots of opportunities comes to Guizhou, kinds of "stages" are erected in Guizhou…Guizhou has to be "popular" because of you!
● Sophie Poudou
Director of Tourisme Responsable & RSE of the Office de Tourisme Métropolitain Nice Côte d'Azur, France
Tourism is indeed one of the most wonderful experiences. But when promoting a destination, we also shoulder the great responsibility to address climate change. 2023 was the hottest year on record. For France, greenhouse gas emissions by tourism account for 11% of the national total, with 70% coming from transportation. So, this responsibility is the most obvious in the Nice-Côte d’Azur region.
Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is an inter-municipal region consisting of 51 municipalities. We are now in its center — the city of Nice that extends to the Mercantour Mountains. The 51 municipalities surround a very popular coastal area, receiving about 6 million tourists every year. In addition, there are mid-mountain and highland areas here. Now, let’s discuss two valleys — Vésubie and Tinée. When we talk about mountains in France, we often refer to the Southern Alps. Despite being in the south, the Alps are as outstanding as any other mountain ranges, with the highest peak reaching 3,143 meters. The figure was mentioned earlier today. As a cross-municipal tourism office, we are the promotional body for this region, affiliated with the Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur. We have multiple information offices throughout the entire region, covering the 51 municipalities.
Source: Anantara Plaza Nice
We have between 22 to 28 tourist information offices that receive tourists and provide information services, but more importantly, serve the local communities. For long, residents have been neglected in tourism policies. We only cared about non-resident tourists, overlooking those who have lived here for years, as they are supposed to be taken care of by other organizations. Today, in the Nice-Côte d'Azur region, we aim to attract more tourists from around the world to this beautiful yet fragile destination. At the same time, we work with local communities to offer services and help with development. This reflects our latest policy of serving the foreign tourists who have made Nice famous over the years while also attracting other types of customers and promoting the region by making more rational schedules and routes. The challenges facing the tourism industry today are clear: how to accommodate large numbers of tourists in one place at the same time. They come during peak periods, but after they leave, we may face an off-season that lasts for the rest of the year. It may not happen in metropolitan areas, but we must strive to address it. Our primary task is to reduce seasonal fluctuations in tourism activities. At the metropolitan tourism office, we have set three tasks. First, we must set an example. As a leading small business, we’re obligated to assess greenhouse gas emissions to understand the office’s impact on carbon emissions.
Source: Drone 06
How can we improve on this? Before discussing partnerships with tourism operators to address climate change, how can we set an example?
First, we need to measure our carbon footprint through procurement policies and calculations. Second, to promote mountain tourism, we must work with all practitioners engaged in the tourism industry. Today, tourism involves not only customers and receptionists but also public institutions that shape and fund tourism through taxation and legal means. So, we must collaborate with them and help them be more qualified. Today, an important task of the tourism office is to improve the service quality in economic, environmental, and social aspects. For example, you may find a hotel with Green Key certification. All these service providers are engaged in dealing with climate change and conveying this information to customers. As a tourism office, it’s our job to promote and publicize. But no one can effectively introduce the hotels and environmental protection measures to customers than hotel groups themselves. Currently, we have about 12,000 rooms, with 40% either already or about to be green-certified. This also extends to our mountain areas. Last, I’d like to discuss how to raise awareness among tourists. Today, when you visit an unfamiliar place like the Nice Côte d'Azur, you are always warmly welcomed. Nice is a major tourist destination, and it’s no exaggeration to say that the city’s development is closely tied to tourism. UNESCO has listed it as a World Heritage site due to its history as a winter resort destination. People come to Nice to enjoy its pleasant winter climate. We want to remind tourists that they are visiting a special place, whether it’s the mountains or the coast. We do everything we can to make this land unique. When you leave, we ask you to set a positive example. Help us by sharing our social responsibility, as it belongs to all of us—both tourists and residents alike. Simple actions can help protect our region. This is basically the foundation of our strategies and policies. Of course, we will continue to attract international visitors who have contributed to the Côte d'Azur and work with local residents.
Source: ben.lamotte
At present, visitors to our mountains are mostly residents and local customers. Statistics show that the tourist number is relatively small. Therefore, we need to involve residents in our actions to create a harmonious environment suitable for residents to live in and for tourists to enjoy. I won’t speak for too long. In summary, the advantage of the Nice Côte d'Azur lies in our 132 employees, including Mayor Christian Estrosi, Deputy Chairman Rudy Salles present this morning, and our Director Jean-Sébastien Martinez. We hope our services match the beauty of this land and become equally outstanding. This region is ecologically fragile, and we are making more efforts to improve promotion and information access to raise tourists’ awareness of environmental protection.
Source: Explore Nice Côte d'Azur
Finally, I’d like to say that for local development, we believe that on-the-spot actions and online cooperation are both crucial. Everyone is aware of it. We gather together to exchange and learn from representatives around the world, and we do the same thing in Nice Côte d’Azur. I’ve learned a lot from everyone, large hotel operators or mountain administrators. This sharing of information and emotional resonance enables us to better understand each other’s motivations and stances so that we can make things happen together. The results may not be what we expected, but they are beneficial for climate, society, and the economy. The entire economic system of the Nice Côte d’Azur centers around these core principles.
● Cheng Lixia
Director of Culture, Tourism, Radio, Television and Sports Bureau, Yizhang County, Hunan Province
Mang Mountain is located in Yizhang County, Hunan Province, China. It is a scenic mountain full of mystery and mist. It is an inclusive mountain full of humanity and human nature. It is a soulful mountain full of self-confidence and self-improvement.
The beauty of Mang Mountain lies in the lucid waters and lush mountains. It is a paradise for animals and plants. Mang Mountain was known as China's First Primitive and Ecological Mountain, the World's Animal and Plant Gene Bank, with the forest coverage as high as 99.6%, the negative oxygen ion content as high as 100,000 per square centimeter, and the largest and most well-preserved indigenous evergreen broad-leaf forest at the same latitude on earth. Mang Mountain, as the "biological refuge" during the dinosaur extinction era, protected more than 2,400 kinds of high-level plants and more than 300 kinds of vertebrates. Mang Mountain wild oranges still flourishing are the oldest known orange species in the world; There are Protobothrops mangshanensis here, a rare snake species, which is unique to Mang Mountain in the world, only about 300-500.
Protobothrops mangshanensis
Mang Mountain, which experienced the baptism of time and the vicissitudes of life, is the nature's most generous gift to us. There is miraculous and wonderful geology. The Golden Whip Divine Pillar is magnificent and miraculous, like a magic weapon of gods; General Cliff provides the unity of form and spirit, as if it is about to summon troops on the battlefield. There are beautiful mountains and rivers. When you look far into the distance, five precipitous ridges wind like eyebrows; When you stop near the water, the relaxing waterfall on the cliff flies like white silks. There is wonderful landscape. The sun is setting, as if the fire is dyeing the sky; The stars are bright, and the Milky Way is in the sky; The sea of clouds are vast, like roaring waves; The soft rime gleams white, like a dream.
Mang Mountain
The love of Mang Mountain lies in harmonious sharing. It is the first fully barrier-free mountainous tourist area in China. President Xi Jinping pointed out, "The construction of barrier-free facilities is a symbol of the civilization of a country and a society." Since 2017, we have tried to spread the barrier-free concept throughout the tourism development of Mang Mountain scenic spot. We have taken the lead in building the first whole-process barrier-free mountainous tourist area in China, so that the disabled, the elderly and other vulnerable groups can enjoy equal and dignified tourism rights. Since the operation of the barrier-free system in 2020, Mang Mountain had received 27,000 disabled person times including more than 5,200 severely disabled person times, and more than 480,000 over-65 elderly person times.
Vertical Ladder
During the development and construction process of Mang Mountain scenic spot, we focused on "four barrier-free concepts".
Barrier-free in whole-area development. We insisted on putting people first and strove to create a world-class, international-style, and humanized barrier-free tourism system. A set of high-mountain ropeway with the longest single line in China (3,700 meters), two high ladders with a vertical lift of more than 100 meters, a plank road along the face of the cliff with a length of 11 kilometers, and 12 escalators were built, turning the natural moat into a thoroughfare. In particular, the 140-meter-high vertical elevator connected to the downstream footpath is a realistic version of the space elevator in the The Wandering Earth 2, a Chinese sci-fi masterpiece, which can reach the sky in 59 seconds. They exclaimed, "It's a pity if I doesn't visit Mang Mountain and I felt very shocked after I arrived at Mang Mountain!"
Barrier-free for whole-people tourism. We originally created the barrier-free tourism for the whole-life cycle of human, so that the elderly and children can stroll idly along steep precipices and cliffs as if they walk in a courtyard; With the help of the stair climbing carts and the elevators, the disabled can sit to tour Mang Mountain without getting out of the wheelchair. In 2023 National Day, a centenarian surnamed Liu reached the summit of the Mang Mountain together with more than 60 persons from five generations to celebrate his 104th birthday.
Alpine Ropeway
Barrier-free for panoramic tour. "Upper, middle and lower" three-level overhead gentle footpaths were created along cliffs, There are 22 barrier-free internet-famous scenic spots, allowing tourists to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Mang Mountain from different angles. Tourists can admire the thousand-year-old azaleas in spring, look at the vast starry sky in summer, admire the dreamy sea of clouds in autumn, and enjoy the snow in winter. The tourists sighed and said, "We quickly reached the summit, and we gradually fell in love with this mountain".
Barrier-free for whole-process protection. We actively practiced the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets". We worked together to protect but not to develop the scenic spot on a large scale. We abide by nature, cherish nature. We made our best efforts to reserve or repair every tree and every stone. which are fully equipped with a barrier-free information transfer system, intelligence marking system, ecological observation system, and fire rescue system.Comprehensive intelligence tourism guidance, regular volunteering services and humanized medical security are provided to tourists.
Cloud Plank Road
The soul of the Mang Mountain lies in the cultural confidence. It is an inheritance place of self-confidence, self-improvement, integrity and innovation spirits. Mang Mountain is an ancient Yao Mountain, It possesses a profound and heavy revolutionary culture, a brilliant and ancient historic culture, a mysterious and colorful folk culture, and a food culture with peculiar flavor. It emits the light of human nature and humanity, endowing the people of Mang Mountain a strong sense of self-confidence. Here, Mang Mountain gathers the essence of the sun and moon and contained the treasures of nature, forming the Yizhang Night Story, the Panwang Festival of Mang Mountain Yao Nationality, and other cultural activities. Various activities bloomed here. Here, Mang Mountain absorbs the spiritual essence of heaven and earth and gathers the spirits of heroes, giving birth to a group of people who constantly strive to become stronger, never feel discouraged, and never bow down to fate. Here, I want to introduce two persons to you: Professor Chen Yuanhui, "Mang Mountain Snake Doctor". In the past 40 years, In order to study and protect the Protobothrops mangshanensis, he was bitten by poisonous snakes for nine times and narrowly escaped death. It can be said that he had been protecting the life with his life. The other person is Jiang Mengnan, who was awarded a "China's Inspirational Role Model". She is a girl from the Yao nationality of Mang Mountain. When she was half a year old, she completely lost her hearing, but she did not give up. She learned to listen, talk, study, and write. She learned and lived like a normal person and went all the way to get the Ph.D. degree of Tsinghua University. She blooms like a flower and breaks out of the encirclement silently. She displays the image of a Chinese youth that everyone has an opportunity to shine.
Barrier-free tourism system
After you climb many mountains in the world, you can feel the big love in Mang Mountain from its barrier-free concepts!
Text and photos source: IMTA
Editor Ⅰ: Zhang Wenwen
Editor Ⅱ: Wu Dan
Editor Ⅲ: Liu Guosong
