From a barren mountain to a city-level forest park, and then to a national-level forest park and a national 4A-level scenic spot
Can the survival model of the first private national forest park be replicated?
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For a long time, it has been difficult for private capital to enter the field of forest tourism.
Even if they enter this field, it will be difficult for private enterprises to do a good job in forest parks.
After 23 years of hard work, despite the ups and downs in the development of Guanyinshan National Forest Park, it has finally provided a positive sample for private capital to enter the national forest park field.
Experts in the industry said that the replication of the Guanyinshan survival model can be expected.
"If the economically underdeveloped areas in the west have rich cultural connotations and eco-tourism resources, but lack funds, I really want to replicate the Guanyinshan National Forest Park model in other places." Recently, my country's first private national forest park - Guangdong Huang Ganbo, chairman of Guanyinshan National Forest Park, told reporters.
Huang Ganbo, who has entered his sixtieth year, still has the ambition of a young man. He said that he has entered this unfamiliar field for 23 years. Although the development of Guanyinshan National Forest Park in Guangdong has been full of twists and turns, it has finally provided an opportunity for private capital to enter the field of national forest parks. The sample with positive significance has allowed more and more private capital to enter this vibrant industry.
A few days ago, a person from the State Forestry and Grassland Administration also said in an interview with reporters that Guangdong Guanyinshan National Forest Park is the pioneer of private capital entering the national forest park, and it is also a rare sample in the reform of my country's forest park investment system.
Back then, when private capital entered the construction of forest parks, there was no precedent in China, and there was no experience to follow. All the experiences it has experienced in the past 23 years are worthy of deep reflection and reference.
"Private enterprises are still peeling off their skins if they do scenic spots"
The National Forest Park is the leader among all types of forest parks and an important check-in place in forest tourism.
At present, there are only less than a thousand national forest parks in the country, and the holidays are basically overcrowded.
Because forest tourism must pay attention to ecological priority and continuous investment, there are many barriers for private capital to enter forest tourism, and relevant policies are not perfect.
Before 1999, it was difficult for private capital to enter the field of forest tourism.
Before the 21st century, forest parks and cultural venues with no characteristic scale in the affluent Dongguan City were called "cultural deserts" by some people.
In 1997, the village committee of Shixin Village, Zhangmutou Town, Dongguan City planned to raise funds to build a park with a collective mountain forest of 5.28 square kilometers as the main body.
Later, due to financial difficulties, it became an unfinished project and looked for successors everywhere.
Huang Ganbo, who was doing business in Zhangmutou Town at the time, signed a joint development agreement with the Shixin Village Committee (later changed to Shixin Community) in November 1999 after careful consideration and rational assessment, with a contract period of 50 years.
At that time, Huang Ganbo knew little about forest tourism, but he felt keenly: "Dongguan at that time had no shortage of factories, products, or projects, but only lacked greenery and forest recreation. Although the barren hills we took over were a mess, However, thirty or fifty years later, if the barren Guanyin Mountain is turned into a famous cultural mountain and a tourist attraction, that kind of life must be more meaningful and worthwhile than simply making money!"
Today, 23 years have passed, and a barren mountain has become Guanyinshan Forest Park in Dongguan City, and then Guanyinshan National Forest Park in Guangdong and a national 4A-level scenic spot.
The former State Forestry Administration also issued a document praising that "Guangdong Guanyinshan National Forest Park is a model of national private capital entering forest resource development".
Regarding this, Huang Ganbo was full of emotion: "It is said that private enterprises are still peeling off their skins in scenic spots, and it is even more difficult to build forest parks!"
Advancement from "Ticket Economy" to "Cultural Tourism Economy"
On January 7, Chen Jingyu, director of the management committee of Guanyinshan National Forest Park, told reporters: "I didn't bring a tester today, otherwise I would find an area to test, and the negative ion content data exceeded 6,000 per cubic centimeter, or even over 10,000. In the waterfall The area even reached more than 12,000/cubic centimeter, while the normal standard is 3,000/cubic centimeter."
For local residents and foreign tourists, Guanyinshan Park is located in the center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Core cities such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Guangzhou are all within the one-hour economic circle of the park. It is a rare city "oxygen bar" ” and “Green Lungs.”
The reporter saw that one wall of the hall of the Management Committee of Guanyinshan National Forest Park was covered with dozens of plaques, including National Forest Park, National AAAA Tourist Scenic Spot, International Ecotourism Demonstration Base, etc.
The vitality and innovative attributes of private capital have allowed Guanyinshan to develop a variety of colorful cultural activities, making it full of vitality.
Chen Jingyu said that Guanyinshan National Forest Park invests tens of millions of yuan every year to launch nearly a hundred rich and diverse cultural tourism activities. The most famous cultural creativity is the solicitation activity that started in 2015. The park issued a reward of 700,000 yuan to collect the second couplet from the whole society, but after 6 years, no second couplet that meets the requirements of the joint law has been collected.
In 2022, the park once again held the solicitation activity of "Viewing Landscapes on Guanyin Mountain", and increased the total prize money to 1.08 million yuan.
Over the past 23 years, Guanyinshan National Forest Park has invested more than 1 billion yuan in the tourism construction of the park, and nearly 40 major scenic spots have been built. Visitors can also visit the ancient tree museum and enjoy cultural performances for free.
Health Culture Festival, National Calligraphy Art Exhibition, National Travel Notes Essay Contest, Chinese and foreign famous writers’ collection, Marriage Cultural Festival and other colorful cultural and tourism innovation activities make Guanyinshan Park jump out of the "ticket economy" and move towards the "cultural tourism economy". The road to advancement.
You can look forward to copying the survival mode of Guanyin Mountain
According to a survey released by the China Tourism Scenic Spots Association, due to the impact of the epidemic, the annual income of many tourist attractions has decreased by more than 10 million yuan, and private tourist attractions have suffered greater operating pressure. It is estimated that about 10% of private scenic spots will choose Project transfer, direct shutdown.
In fact, in recent years, private scenic spots have gone bankrupt many times due to poor management or interference from external factors. For example, Longtan Grand Canyon in Henan, Darushan in Shandong, Longmenzhen in Chongqing, etc., some of which are still classified as 5A, the highest level of tourist attractions in China. Scenic area.
The ticket price of Guanyinshan National Forest Park has not increased in 16 years, and it has always been 45 yuan, while the lowest ticket price for tourist attractions in the same area is around 80 yuan.
Huang Ganbo said that the 45 yuan ticket for Guanyin Mountain is barely enough to maintain the operating expenses of the park, but it is difficult to make a profit. Fortunately, it has stepped out of the road of integrated development of culture and tourism ahead of schedule.
As for Huang Ganbo's thinking about whether he can go to another place to replicate and restart the Guanyinshan model, industry experts said that although many private scenic spots have gone bankrupt, the replication of the Guanyinshan survival model can be expected, and it is worth looking forward to, especially in the economically underdeveloped areas in the west, Huang Ganbo is needed Such private entrepreneurs help, inject funds, talent teams, new ideas, etc.
Our reporter Wang Dongmei, "Workers' Daily" (version 04, January 16, 2023)