Tax cuts conducive to Yunnan tourism recovery

Endowed with a pleasant climate, Yunnan province has turned out to be a popular destination to avoid heat during this summer vacation. As streams of tourists flowed into scenic areas in Dali, Lijiang, Xishuangbanna, Wenshan and others, provincial tourism market has shown a strong momentum of overall recovery. To further boost local tourism, authorities in Yunnan has implemented preferential tax policies that helped the tourist industry to regain its vitality.

Scenic areas in west Yunnan’s Dali prefecture were packed this summer: Some were wandering in the ancient city of Dali, some were riding bikes in the ecological corridor along the Erhai Lake, yet others were admiring flowers on the farms. At the touristy scenes, head of the Dali Tourist Distribution Center Company looked really happy.

Offering tourist services of sightseeing, bus operation, tour guidance and ticketing, the company was once in a business dilemma due to decreases in the number of tourists. Under the guidance of local tax authorities, it received 410,000 yuan of VAT refund. "We’ll use this sum to develop products that can better meet the needs of tourists and show the advantages of Dali,” said head of the company. “The products are expected to draw more tourists to Dali for leisure, consumption, and the recovery of our tourism market.”

Starting on July 1, the Chinese Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration of China rolled out the new policy of VAT deduction and tax refund, in a bid to support seven industries close to residents' daily life: accommodation, catering, culture, sports, entertainment, wholesale and retail. As a result, the confidence of market players was further boosted.

Ma Xiaolong, head of the Taxation Bureau of Dali Tourism Resort, said the tourism industry has been seriously affected by the Covid epidemic, and it is necessary for local authorities to implement the tax refund and tax reduction. To fully appreciate the needs of market players, tax officials have carried out online questionnaires, field visits and inquiries for personalized taxation services. To solve the practical problems, tax officers had to ensure that preferential tax and fee policies were enjoyed directly and quickly by local tourism enterprises.

With tourism market recovery and preferential tax policies, the accommodation industry has also ushered in rare opportunities for development. "Since July, occupancy rate of the company's hotels has been on the rise, among which the occupancy of the Luxor Hotel in Lijiang is over 86%, the same as that of last year."

Shu Xiaoming, the financial director of Lijiang Hefu Hotel Co., Ltd., said that as the leader of hotel management in Lijiang, the company's development can not be separated from the support of tax authorities. Due to the Covid epidemic, the company performance remained poor in the past three years, and the preferential tax policies by the authorities have benefited travel enterprises timely.

With a tax refund of 5.36 million yuan this year, the company has completed construction of the mountain-life hotels in advance, meeting tourists’ lodging needs in the summer-vacation travel peak.

Reporting Duan Xiaorui; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue