The Ningxia Hui autonomous region is expected to become a crucial link between China and the Arab states to boost tourism, industry experts said.

During the China-Arab States Leisure Tourism Forum held last month, they said that under the Belt and Road Initiative, Ningxia has become an ecological conservation and high-quality development zone in the Yellow River Basin. It has also witnessed strong friendship between China and the Arab states.

Ningxia, located along the ancient Silk Road, encompasses a variety of tourism spots, including Shuidong gorge, the ancient rock paintings of Helan Mountain, the Ningxia Yellow River irrigation zone and the Western Xia imperial tombs.

"In recent years, the local government included the cultural and tourism industry as a pillar industry of the region's new development pattern. It placed emphasis on developing the Yinchuan high-quality tourism zone, the Yellow River cultural and tourism belt, and the Helan Mountain cultural and tourism belt," said Lai Jiao, secretary of the regional Party's Committee of Political and Legal Affairs and vice-chairman of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Lai said since last year, Ningxia had hosted two seasons of tourism promotional activities, inviting 22 county-level heads to serve as tour guides to promote the local tourism industry. Several tourist sites, such as the Desert Star Hotel and Highway 66－both in Zhongwei Desert－have become popular among visitors.

"The tourism departments of Shaanxi province, Gansu province, Qinghai province, the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region are jointly building a great cultural and tourism intellectual property asset to attract more consumers," Lai said.

As an integral part of the China-Arab States Expo, the China-Arab States Leisure Tourism Forum has been successfully held for four years, with 93 tourism agreements signed. The forum effectively promoted communication and cooperation of tourism industry players from countries and regions involved in the BRI.

"This year's forum has continued to share resources and advantages among the BRI economies, and promoted joint development. It is hoped that countries and regions join hands to explore the tourism market, and discover new mechanisms to revive the tourism industry in the post-pandemic era," Lai said.

To boost development of the tourism industry, in recent years, Ningxia has hosted several tourism festivals. In the coming five years, the local government hopes the number of tourists will grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 25 percent.

By 2025, it is expected that total visits will surpass 100 million, and tourism sales revenue in Ningxia will surpass 100 billion yuan ($15.4 billion).

Zhang Xu, vice-minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said: "From January to June, China's domestic trips reached 1.87 billion, up 100.8 percent year-on-year. Facing challenges brought by the pandemic, China and the Arab states have stood together, helping each other in the fight against the pandemic. In the field of tourism, Chinese and Arab tourism authorities have maintained close partnerships.

"Ningxia plays a unique role in promoting tourism cooperation among countries and regions taking part in the BRI. During the China-Arab States Expo, a series of cooperation contracts were signed, and the expo will give impetus to broader cooperation in the field of leisure tourism between China and the Arab states, and contribute to the high-quality development of Ningxia's tourism industry," Zhang said.

Industry experts said currently, although the tourism industry of Ningxia is developing rapidly, a lot of drawbacks still exist, such as the fact that the industry scale is underdeveloped, and tourism products lack innovation.

To solve the problems and develop the tourism industry chain in Ningxia, the government aims to constantly promote the development of the whole industry chain and services.

The government will also promote the integration of the tourism industry, digital economy and real economy, and build a new consumption ecosystem that adopts new technologies and new business modes.