Officials and representatives from home and abroad have highlighted the breathtaking landscapes and rich culture of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, calling for enhancing exchanges and cooperation to attract more visitors.

They made the remarks at the Xinjiang Tourism Development Conference, held on Sunday in Kuqa county of Xinjiang's Aksu prefecture.

The annual event gathered about 300 representatives, including over 80 foreign guests from 33 countries. A grand cultural and tourism event, the conference aims to drive high-quality development in Xinjiang's tourism sector.

Erkin Tuniyaz, chairman of Xinjiang, said that the region has become a gateway for China's westward opening-up and the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

The region has been seizing the opportunity brought by the Belt and Road Initiative to deepen exchanges and cooperation in culture and tourism with neighboring countries, he said.

Xinjiang has seen 302 million visits in 2024, including 5.15 million inbound tourists, with total spending reaching 359.5 billion yuan ($50 billion), according to Erkin.

The region also received 516 visiting delegations last year, including foreign political leaders, diplomatic envoys to China, media reporters, experts and scholars, with a total of 10,600 people.

By 2030, Xinjiang aims to host more than 400 million tourists annually and generate 1 trillion yuan in combined revenue from the cultural, tourism, and sports sectors, according to a five-year development plan for the region's culture and tourism industry cluster released at the conference.

Key priorities include promoting "culture plus" industries such as the cultural and creative industry, cultural trade and digital cultural industry, and advancing Xinjiang's status as a core cultural exchange hub along the Silk Road Economic Belt.

The plan also focuses on strengthening its sightseeing and vacation tourism industry, and developing sectors such as winter sports, outdoor recreation and equipment manufacturing to create new growth.

Kao Kim Hourn, secretary-general of ASEAN, said in a video message that the conference offers a valuable opportunity to enhance cooperation and connection.

While celebrating shared cultural heritage, the conference also opens up new paths for sustainable tourism collaboration, he said.

He called for building connections through dialogue between civilizations and building bridges of mutual understanding through open cooperation.

Maldivian Ambassador to China Fazeel Najeeb said that after experiencing Xinjiang's beauty in person, he is convinced of its huge tourism potential.

Various factors, including facilitated visa policies and flights, have boosted the tourism development of the region, he said.

Yasutaka Kojima, who has visited the region over 150 times since 1982, said he has been introducing both Xinjiang's breathtaking wonders and latest development to the Japanese at various occasions.

Kojima, a cultural advisor of the regional government of Xinjiang who strives to help people understand the real Xinjiang through facts, said he believes that more and more people will come to visit the region and fall in love with it.