Creating a New Tourism-based Poverty Alleviation Brand

On December 22, Wanda Group attended the 2017 China Brand Forum held by People’s Daily and delivered a speech titled “Creating a New Tourism-based Poverty Alleviation Brand”. Following is the transcript of the speech.

Distinguished officials and guests,

Good afternoon!

It’s a great pleasure to attend the 2017 China Brand Forum, and share with you our ideas about “Creating A New Tourism-based Poverty Alleviation Brand.”

At the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping required putting poverty alleviation and development at a very important position on the country’s governing agenda. At 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi then proposed to take targeted poverty alleviation as one of the three key battles for decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. At the Central Economic Working Conference just held in December 2017, President Xi clearly proposed to take the fight against poverty as an important part of key work in the next three years. It is the first time in the history of China and even the whole world that a national leader has attached such great importance to poverty alleviation and shown such deep concern for the poverty-stricken segments of society.

Pro-actively responding to President Xi’s call, Wanda has always taken poverty alleviation as the Group’s historical mission in the new era, the best embodiment of Wanda’s social responsibility, and the priority for Wanda’s work. By the end of 2014, Wanda had begun cooperating with Danzhai County in Guizhou to implement China’s first innovative poverty alleviation model for “Enterprise-County Cooperative Poverty Alleviation,” becoming one of the first batch of companies with the greatest investment in poverty alleviation. Danzhai County is also the targeted poverty alleviation county for the National Audit Office of the People’s Republic of China (CNAO), which, in cooperation with Wanda, decided to implement the industrial poverty alleviation model focused on the “integration of long-, mid- and short-term poverty alleviation” in Danzhai County. Wanda invested a total of RMB 1.6 billion in Danzhai centered on tourism-based poverty alleviation, including RMB 800 million for a tourist village, RMB 300 million for a career technical college revolving around tourism vocational education, and RMB 500 million for a special poverty alleviation fund for orphans, disabled individuals, those suffering from illnesses, and other at-need groups not covered by the poverty alleviation program.

I. Tourism industry-based poverty alleviation

The core of targeted poverty alleviation is to formulate the right program capable of achieving remarkable progress, rather than just its investment and scale. Wanda devoted a whole year to carry out various investigations before finalizing Wanda’s Danzhai Poverty Alleviation Program in a bid to identify a poverty alleviation industry with stable cash flow that would continuously benefit local residents. At the very beginning, Wanda focused on the tea, rice and pig feeding industries. After in-depth investigations, it found that pig feeding faces the challenge of changing cycles, while tea and rice face fierce market competition, with poor expected earnings. As a result, it was determined that these industries may not bring Danzhai County long and stable earnings, even if Wanda invested billions of RMB. During the investigations, Wanda discovered that Danzhai is a potential tourist destination due to its beautiful scenery and rich Miao and Dong cultures. Wanda decided to put tourism at the core of poverty alleviation in Danzhai County since the tourism industry has a long industrial chain that can develop sustainably and bring local residents more jobs, enabling Wanda to fully leverage its competitive advantages as China’s largest tourism company.

II. Poverty alleviation led by tourist village

The key for tourism development is scenic destinations, so it is a great challenge for Wanda to develop Danzhai County’s tourism in the absence of famous rivers, mountains, tourist attractions, and developed scenic spots. As a solution, Wanda decided to plan and build a tourist village in Danzhai to lead the county’s tourism development. First, building a comprehensive scenic area. Danzhai Wanda Village covers 400mu, and has a total area of 50,000 square meters. Aiming to build a quality scenic area with a full surrounding road system and beautiful environment, Wanda invested heavily in renovating the East Lake near Danzhai Wanda Village and constructing a suspension bridge, lake-side path, gaily-painted boat, watercart and nightscape lighting to create a poetic and picturesque atmosphere. Second, representing Miao and Dong customs. Near the mountain and by the river, Danzhai Wanda Village is exquisitely designed with Miao- and Dong-style architectures, and perfectly integrates the patterns and elements of a Miao village as well as the classical drum tower of a Dong village, winning the Gold Nugget Award at the WACF, the most prestigious recognition in the field of architecture. Third, converging with local cultures. As a platform for the many colorful local cultures of Danzhai, Danzhai Wanda Village is built with four squares designed around the themes of local cultures, three traditional competition fields, and three home courtyards with the theme of intangible cultural heritages of ancient paper-making, Miao’s wax printing and bird-cage making. Fourth, enriching the consumption experience. To attract tourists, Danzhai Wanda Village expands the various forms of consumption experience. The tourists can experience ancient paper-making, Miao’s wax printing and bird-cage making. Moreover, Wanda also built a four-star hot-spring resort hotel, dozens of inns and local featured restaurants, a cinema, a game center, a play area for kids, a bar street, etc. in the village.

III. Poverty alleviation with operation and management as the key

Wanda takes the operation and management of Danzhai Wanda Village as its main focus area, working to fully leverage the Group’s many years of experience in tourism development to support the healthy development of tourism in Danzhai.

First, targeted investment attraction. With a population of 30,000, Danzhai County is a two hours’ drive to Guiyang, without a high-speed railway or airport, indicating that Danzhai Wanda Village must actively work to attract tourists instead of relying on daily consumption. Danzhai Wanda Village does not focus on retailers, as over two-thirds of its tourism attractions revolve around intangible cultural heritage, featuring delicacies, consumption experience items, etc. which are popular among tourists.

Second, effective promotion. To ensure a successful start, Danzhai Wanda Village must be actively promoted to targeted tourist groups. Wanda has fully leveraged its competitive advantages as a leading tourism company in China, signing 131 travel agencies, launching 202 tourist routes, and establishing strategic cooperation with six mainstream online tourism platforms, including Ctrip. Danzh ai Wanda Village Commercial Management Co., Ltd. plans and organizes diversified and colorful activities on a weekly basis, including the “Nongx Yul” Festival, Jinji Dance, Music Festival, Rotating Mayor programs, etc., attracting a pool of tourists from both within and outside Guizhou Province and making Danzhai Wanda Village one of the top three most popular tourist attractions in Guizhou.

Third, scientific means. Wanda Group has employed scientific means to improve the operation and