On July 26, Hubei Provincial Tourism Commission released the work plan on accelerating and upgrading the tourism service industry in the core area of the Yangtze River international gold tourism belt. This "heavyweight" tourism development plan has clearly positioned the tourism development in 17 cities and states of Hubei province. Among them, Yichang will be built into a tourism power source and regional tourism distribution center of western Hubei, eastern Chongqing and northwestern Hunan.

　　According to the plan, by 2020, the places and regions along the Yangtze River of Hubei will basically become the leading area for tourism transformation and up gradation, the concentration area of high-quality tourism brands and the demonstration area of eco-tourism, and Hubei will be built into the core area of Yangtze River international golden tourism belt and a strong tourism province. The main orientation of Yichang is to strengthen the capacity of tourism industry organization, service and distribution, and Yichang will be built into a tourism power source and regional tourism distribution center of western Hubei, eastern Chongqing and northwestern Hunan. Yichang will break through the development of cultural tourism and become a world-class hydro power tourism city.

　　The plan has many programs relating to Yichang. On transportation, the road among key scenic spots will be connected into a network, which will cooperate with the promotion of the construction of tourist scenic routes, such as Wuhan-Shennongjia-Yichang eco-tourism road, Dabieshan Mountred tourist road, and 318 National Highway along the Qingjiang River. In terms of construction, major tourist cities such as Wuhan, Yichang, Enshi and Xiangyang, as well as key cities along the Yangtze River, will be supported to build tourist distribution centers, and tourist service centers will be set up in central urban areas, expressway exits, stations and docks.

　　The plan proposes to enrich the cultural tourism products of cities along the river, and form a land-water integrated cruise tourism product system that combines the cruise vacation tour with the traditional sightseeing tour, and combines the Yangtze River tourism plus the branch sightseeing and leisure with the urban night tour. The local government will be encouraged to support the construction of the cruise home-port of Wuhan and Yichang, and several ports of call for cruise ships according to local conditions. (Reporter: Wang Ying)