According the Statistics released by the Yichang Municipal Holiday Office yesterday, Yichang has attracted 2.5198 million tourists during the short holiday of the Dragon Boat Festival, registering a year-by-year increase of 16.23%. The total actualized tourism revenue reaches 1.305 billion yuan, which is 20.61% higher than the year before.

　　Before the Dragon Boat Festival, the Yichang Municipal Tourism Administration launched a series of marketing activities, including “Visit the Hometown of Quyuan & Fall in Love with Yichang” at Shandong Market Promotion Fair, “Love Yichang & Serve Qin and Chu at the Same Time ”in Shanxi Market Promotion Fair, “Fall in Love with a Bettering Yichang” at Guangdong Market Sales Fair. On June 15th, the Dragon Boat Cultural Festival was opened in the hometown of Quyuan. The official WeChat Official Account of of Zigui Tourism organized a series of interaction activities, including “The Dragon Boat Festival in Zigui. What’s New”, “What? You just eat zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival? Quyuan would be angered to tears”, etc. These activities drew wide attention from netizens. Four live streaming activities attracted around 5.219 million audiences. During the Dragon Boat Cultural Festival, the traditional folk cultural activities, including making zongzi, dragon boat racing, hanging the folium artemisiae argyi, taking the folium artemisiae bath, and holding a memorial ceremony for Quyuan, were popular among tourists. During the three days, the number of tourists experiencing the cultural experience activity in the Scenic Area of Quyuan’s Hometown reached3.39 million, creating a comprehensive income of 1.524 million yuan.

　　Apart from Zigui, other counties and cities subsequently put on their highlights. Xingshan held the “Chao Tian Hou” Natural Water Region International Dragon Boat Drifting Competition. More than 1,800 athletes, either professional or amateur, struggled to paddle the boat. Three Gorges Tribe Scenic Spot held the Season One Finals of “Xiajiang Folk Custom Drawing” & “LiveFun Angel Traveler”. A large batch of music talents and entertainment celebrities gathered in the Scenic Spot, thus attracting around 54,500 tourists to the scenic area in three days. During the Dragon Boat Festival, the eight scenic spots in Yichang received guests for around 26.71 million with the total ticket income of 15.4668 million yuan. The average guest room occupancy rate of ten urban hotels reached around 80.34%. (Journalist Wang Ying, trainee reporter Yang Xinyu)