On August 3rd, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Ministry of Culture and Tourism") issued the "Emergency Notice on Comprehensively Strengthening the Prevention and Control of Current Epidemic Situation" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), demanding further implementation of the epidemic situation prevention and control requirements of A-level tourist attractions, strengthening the supervision of travel agencies, and strengthening the prevention and control measures of indoor places in the cultural and tourism industries.
the Ministry of culture and tourism pointed out that recently, there have been cluster epidemics in many places in China, and the epidemic situation is severe and complicated, and the pressure of prevention and control continues to increase. The whole industry should further attach great importance to it, take positive actions, take strict measures and decisive actions in accordance with the epidemic prevention and control guidelines issued by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Tourism, and do a good job in epidemic prevention and control, so as to prevent the epidemic from spreading through cultural and tourism channels and ensure people's life safety and health.
according to the circular, the Ministry of culture and tourism has made it clear that the requirements of "limited quota, reservation and peak shifting" should be strictly implemented in A-level tourist attractions, and the upper limit of tourists' reception should be strictly controlled according to the epidemic prevention and control requirements of local party committees and governments. At the same time, the ticket reservation system is strictly implemented to ensure that tourist information can be inquired and tracked.
regarding the supervision of travel agencies, the circular clearly instructs travel agencies and online travel enterprises to strengthen risk assessment and judgment, timely understand and master the epidemic situation of tourist destinations and source areas, and refrain from organizing groups to travel to high school risk areas, undertaking travel teams in high school risk areas, and organizing tourists from high school risk areas to travel.
The Notice requires that when the relevant departments of the government of the tourist destination issue early warning tips for tourism or classify the relevant areas as medium and high risk levels of the epidemic, the tourism team that has not set out must immediately cancel or change the travel itinerary; Tourism teams already in the local area must suspend their local tourism activities and cooperate with the relevant epidemic investigation.
with regard to the requirements of prevention and control measures for indoor places in the cultural tourism industry, the circular clearly stipulates that epidemic prevention and control should be strengthened in performance places such as star-rated hotels and theaters, museums, public libraries, cultural centers (stations), art galleries, indoor places in A-level tourist attractions, entertainment places, Internet service places and other relatively closed places, and sanitary management and ventilation and disinfection should be strengthened.
the circular pointed out that indoor cultural and tourism venues should be closed according to local epidemic prevention and control deployment requirements, and the route of epidemic transmission should be resolutely blocked.
Recently, with the emergence of cases of COVID-19 epidemic in many cities across the country, many scenic spots across the country have announced the closure or upgrading of epidemic prevention measures.
On July 31th, Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province closed all scenic spots. At the same time, several cities under the jurisdiction of Hunan Province also upgraded their epidemic prevention and control. For example, Ningxiang City has suspended gathering activities such as training institutions, theaters, bars, Internet cafes, KTV, large-scale dinners, square dances, rural fairs, sacrifices, and dining places. The city suspended the business of Fangte Oriental Myth, Tanheli, Huilong Mountain and Weishan Miyin Temple; Changde City requires all tourist attractions to control the flow of people, and in principle, the number of tourists received should not exceed 31% of the approved maximum carrying capacity.
From July 31th, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province suspended the opening of outdoor areas of tourist attractions. Many scenic spots (attractions) such as Slender West Lake, daming temple, Geyuan, Heyuan, Zhuyuwan Scenic Spot Scenic Area, Wudaotai Mansion, Runyang Forest Park, Chenyuan and Yanhu Village in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province were temporarily closed to the outside world, and Tianle Lake Tourism Resort was also temporarily closed. The Yangzhou Museum has been closed since July 28th.
on August 2nd, Zhengzhou city, Henan province announced the closure of A-level scenic spots, Internet cafes, KTV and other places in the city.
On August 3rd, the Bureau of Culture and Tourism of Wuhan City, Hubei Province issued a notice, demanding that the tourist reception of A-level tourist attractions in the city be reduced to 51% of the maximum carrying capacity of the scenic spots, and all performing arts activities in the scenic spots should be suspended.