Vision and Action Plan to Build Fujian into a World - Renowned Tourist Destination - Fujian Province, China

Context

UN Tourism is collaborating with the Department of Culture and Tourism of Fujian Province and Fujian Normal University to develop a Vision and Action Plan to Build Fujian into a World-Renowned Tourist Destination. A first mission by the Deputy Director of the International Development and Cooperation Department of UN Tourism and a team of international experts was fielded to Fujian Province at the end of March 2025 to undertake an initial analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for tourism development in the Province and to make detailed arrangements regarding the project implementation.

The new project including the initial findings from the field research was presented by the Director of International Development and Cooperation of UN Tourism at the Fujian International Tourism Festival that took place in Nanping from 18 to 20 April, 2025. The Festival was attended by over 100 participants, including representatives from the Provincial Culture and Tourism Department and other key tourism stakeholders in the Province. 

Highlights

Tourism in Fujian Province has been identified as one of the key priority sectors that would contribute to the province’s economic growth. Fujian, nestled on China's southeastern coast, is traditionally described as “Eight parts mountain, one part water, and one part farmland”. The Province offers an attractive mix of natural beauty, rich history, and vibrant cultural experiences, making it an interesting destination for both domestic and international tourists. The essence of the new Tourism Vision and Action Plan to be developed with technical assistance from UN Tourism will be to provide greater direction for tourism planning in Fujian Province in the fields of product development and management, marketing and positioning, and human resources development and quality.

At the outset of the mission in March, a project planning and introduction meeting took place with representatives from the Department of Culture and Tourism of Fujian Province, Fujian Normal University, the international expert team and UN Tourism. During the meeting, information was exchanged on the objectives, ambitions and structure of the project, and detailed arrangements were made for the first field mission of two weeks to be undertaken by the expert team. Subsequently, the expert team took off for the field research covering the cities of Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen and Zhangzhou as well as Wuyishan Mountain, the Hakka Tulous and Pingtan Island. During the field work, a wide range of tourist attractions and areas with tourism potential in the Province were reviewed and meetings were held with relevant tourism stakeholders, including representatives of the private sector and local governments, in particular the local Culture and Tourism Bureaus, and managers of tourism sites and attractions. The field research served to make an initial assessment of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for tourism development in Fujian, and to formulate initial development ideas for the Fujian tourism sector that will be elaborated in subsequent missions.

On 19 April 2025, the new Vision and Action Plan project was presented at the Fujian Tourism Festival in Nanping, sharing the initial findings from the field research, highlighting already some first development ideas and counter measures, and presenting recommendations for further support that UN Tourism can provide to help turn Fujian into a World-Renowned Tourist Destination. The presentation served to raise awareness among tourism stakeholders in Fujian Province on the new tourism planning initiative for Fujian Province and to gain momentum for an active collaboration with tourism stakeholders from the public and private sector during implementation of the project.

Stay Tuned

A next mission by the expert team to Fujian is planned for July 2025 to complete the situation analysis phase, to be followed by a third mission in September – October to start identifying and formulating strategic recommendations and demonstration projects. The final Vision and Action Plan is scheduled to be submitted to the Fujian Authorities before the end of the year, and will subsequently be presented to key tourism stakeholders from the Province during an awareness raising seminar in the beginning of 2026.