To implement the State Council’s deployment requirements regarding the establishment of a new system for high-quality and efficient service industries, accelerate the improvement of tourism service quality across the province, and support the high-quality development of the tourism industry, the following implementation plan is hereby formulated.
I. General Requirements
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and thoroughly implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions regarding Shandong’s work, we will adhere to the principles of prioritizing quality, adopting a problem-oriented approach, promoting reform and innovation, and pursuing systematic development. We will focus on initiatives to enhance service infrastructure, develop service products, establish service standards, improve staff competence, and standardize service operations. By significantly strengthening service awareness and improving service skills,we will actively create a warm, comfortable, and refined tourism consumption environment. By embodying the cultural charm of “Hospitality Shandong, Land of Etiquette” through “Hospitality Service,” we will establish the “Hospitality Service” brand as the hallmark of Shandong’s tourism services, thereby creating new highlights and high grounds for Shandong’s high-level opening-up and high-quality development.
II. Campaign Theme
“Hospitality Service, Enjoy Shandong”
III. Main Tasks
(1) Tourism Service Infrastructure Improvement Initiative.
1. Improve the level of supporting service facilities. Develop a number of provincial-level scenic tourism routes; improve public service facilities such as tourism service centers, tourist rest stops, tourist parking lots, tourism signage, and public tourism service information platforms; and optimize the layout and increase the number of public restrooms. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
2. Improve the level of convenient tourism services. Optimize online reservation functions and the environment for bank card acceptance, cash usage, and mobile payments at key venues such as tourist attractions and resorts, tourism accommodation businesses, nighttime cultural and tourism consumption clusters, specialty commercial districts, entertainment venues, and public cultural venues. Effectively enhance the convenience of inbound tourism for the elderly and international visitors. Timely release information on weather and visitor traffic through official websites, WeChat official accounts, and other platforms to ensure tourists can plan their itineraries reasonably and scientifically.(Lead Agencies: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, People’s Bank of China Shandong Branch; Responsible Agencies: Provincial Department of Commerce, Shandong Regulatory Bureau of the National Financial Regulatory Administration)
3. Enhance the level of smart tourism services.Promote the smart development of tourist attractions, star-rated hotels, and public cultural venues; improve the service functions of the “Hao Ke Shandong, Cloud Tour of Qilu” smart cultural tourism platform; increase digital management and service equipment in tourist attractions, leisure districts, and other tourism spaces; develop contactless tourism accommodation services such as self-service check-in, ordering, device control, and keyless entry; and create new “Internet+Tourism” consumption scenarios for booking, guided tours, and payments.(Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
4. Improve tourism transportation accessibility. Establish a “fast access, slow exploration” tourism transportation system characterized by “efficient external access, smooth internal circulation, and abundant non-motorized options.” Connect trunk highways with scenic area access roads, improve micro-circulation facilities such as direct bus routes, greenways, and bike paths, and enhance tourism transportation services.Strengthen traffic management on roads surrounding popular tourist areas such as scenic spots and museums; effectively manage traffic flow in these areas; flexibly adjust parking zones; and provide visitors with safe, unobstructed, and orderly transportation services. (Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Provincial Department of Transportation, Provincial Department of Public Security)
5. Improve the level of environmental hygiene in tourism. Strengthen environmental hygiene management at all types of cultural and tourism reception venues. Guide service providers to implement national and industry standards, ensuring that public facilities are in good condition and the environment is clean and aesthetically pleasing; ensure that tourist accommodations are cleaned promptly and disinfected thoroughly, with guest amenities replaced after each guest; ensure that food service hygiene complies with relevant food safety regulations; and ensure that tourist restrooms are clean, odor-free, safe, and convenient, thereby providing tourists with a comfortable and reassuring travel environment.(Lead Agency: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; Responsible Agency: Provincial Health Commission)
(2) Tourism Service Product Development Initiative.
6. Deepen the implementation of the “Joyful Stay in Shandong” initiative. Promote the quality improvement and expansion of the tourism accommodation sector; actively expand the scale of star-rated hotels and graded tourist homestays; innovatively carry out the evaluation of “Hospitable Shandong” boutique hotels and rural hotels; create clusters of leisure and resort hotels; and develop distinctive themed hotels. Introduce internationally renowned hotel brands; support the group-based, branded, and chain-based development of the tourism accommodation sector; and drive industry-wide upgrades in facilities, environmental optimization, and service enhancement.By the end of 2025, the total number of star-rated hotels in the province will reach over 600, with more than 50 five-star hotels. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
7. Focus on building the “Gourmet Shandong” brand. Organize the “Qilu Culinary Festival” and “Qilu Culinary Arts Festival,” showcasing 100 classic Shandong dishes, 100 gourmet streets, 100 viral snacks, and 100 renowned Shandong chefs. Vigorously advance the “Food Safety Shandong” initiative to ensure tourists dine with comfort and peace of mind. (Lead Agency: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; Responsible Agencies: Provincial Department of Commerce, Provincial Market Regulation Bureau)
8. Vigorously implement the “Scenic Area Revitalization” project. Promote the development of world-class tourist attractions and world-class tourist resorts; strive to create National 5A-level tourist attractions and national-level tourist resorts; and newly designate a batch of National 4A-level tourist attractions and provincial-level tourist leisure districts.We will advance the upgrading and renovation of tourist attractions’ cable cars, toboggan runs, amusement facilities, and performance equipment, while promoting the renewal and procurement of tourism equipment such as RVs, cruise ships, yachts, and tour vehicles. We will continuously upgrade and iterate scenic area products to provide visitors with a higher-quality tourism experience. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
9. Innovatively develop “Explore Qilu” tourism products. Support tourism enterprises in deepening their focus on niche markets and developing customized products. Vigorously develop heritage, folk customs, cultural and museum, and educational tourism, and create a range of high-quality products and itineraries for self-driving tours, wellness tourism, cruise tourism, sports tourism, and tourism performances. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
10. Establish the “Shandong Gifts” tourism merchandise system. Support and encourage the development of cultural and creative products; organize the “Hospitable Shandong · Shandong Gifts” tourism merchandise competition; cultivate a group of premium tourism merchandise brands characterized by high quality, excellent design, distinctive features, and market recognition; release the “Must-Buy List for Shandong Tourism”; and encourage participation in the “Quality Shandong” selection program. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
(III) Tourism Service Standards Leadership Initiative.
11. Strengthen the Leading Role of Standards and Regulations.Revise and improve the “Hospitable Shandong Tourism Service Standards,” emphasizing quality requirements for tourism services, and optimize service standards for travel agencies, tour guides, tourist attractions, accommodations, shopping, and transportation. In response to industry developments, formulate service reception standards for public cultural venues and emerging tourism formats such as educational tours, self-driving tours, and cruise tourism; improve the cultural and tourism service standards system; and organize the promotion and implementation of these standards. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
12. Strengthen leadership through exemplary models. Publicly commend groups and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to tourism services. Each year, identify and promote ten “Exemplary Hospitality Service Units” and 100 “Exemplary Hospitality Service Individuals.” Implement the “Chief Quality Officer” and “Exemplary Service Staff” systems in tourism enterprises, establish a database of high-quality service cases from tourism enterprises and institutions, regularly select and publish typical cases, and continuously enhance the service quality awareness of tourism enterprises and their employees.(Lead Agency: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; Responsible Agency: Provincial Market Regulation Bureau)
(IV) Tourism Industry Workforce Quality Enhancement Initiative.
13. Strengthen Service Awareness. Through various media platforms, professional training, and special events such as service competitions, extensively publicize the significance and specific measures of this special improvement initiative. Strengthen professional ethics education for cultural and tourism enterprises, institutions, and practitioners throughout all elements and processes of their work. Firmly establish the “tourists first” philosophy, reinforce the awareness of providing warm, friendly, and smiling service, and elevate the level of attentive, considerate, and meticulous service.Guide tourists to practice civilized tourism and travel safely, and vigorously foster a harmonious and cordial recreational atmosphere where both hosts and guests share in the experience. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
14. Strengthen talent development initiatives. Continue cultivating mid-level, senior, and special-class tour guides as well as “Gold Medal” tour guides; advance the establishment of “Master Studios” for tour guides and interpreters; train outstanding “tourism influencers”; and encourage tour guides to participate in professional title evaluations to drive the overall improvement of the tour guide workforce. Launch the “Five-Star Red Tourism Interpreter” development initiative to build a brand for red tourism interpreters. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
15. Organize service skills competitions. Organize tourism enterprises to conduct regular, comprehensive service skills training for all staff. Hold tiered skills competitions annually for tour guides and hotel staff, using competitions to drive training, strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and effectively improve the professional service skills of industry personnel. Support the organization of service skills competitions for students at tourism colleges and universities to enhance their practical skills and sense of professional identity.(Lead Agency: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; Responsible Agencies: Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League, Provincial Women’s Federation, Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security)
16. Improve the education and training system. Incorporate tourism service quality into the tourism education and training system, deepen the integration of industry and education as well as school-enterprise cooperation, and vigorously promote the modern apprenticeship system. Establish tourism talent training bases in collaboration with educational institutions to conduct multi-level, multi-category training on tourism service quality management and service skills. Guide large tourism enterprises to establish practical training centers to strengthen training for management and service staff. Encourage industry personnel to participate in vocational skills level certification.(Lead Agency: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; Responsible Agencies: Provincial Department of Education, Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security)
(5) Tourism Service Order Standardization Initiative.
17. Innovate regulatory approaches. Implement “health check”-style unannounced inspections of tourism service quality, establish a volunteer supervision system for tourism service quality, and carry out socialized supervision of service quality. Principal officials of cultural and tourism departments at all levels shall regularly participate in unannounced inspections. Improve the credit-based regulatory system for the tourism market, implement credit-based classification and management of tourism enterprises and practitioners, and standardize the identification and remediation of entities with poor credit. Promote the tourism advance compensation system and establish a rapid response mechanism for rights protection.(Lead Agency: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; Responsible Agency: Provincial Market Regulation Bureau)
18. Implement dynamic management. Organize tourist attractions, star-rated hotels, and other entities to conduct annual self-assessments and self-improvements in accordance with grading standards, and urge them to maintain service quality levels. Strictly organize re-evaluations; conduct interviews with enterprises that fail to meet standards during inspections and urge them to rectify issues; revoke certifications or downgrade enterprises that still fail to meet standards after rectification. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
19. Uphold integrity in business operations. Promote clear pricing of tickets and goods, as well as honest shopping practices, in public cultural venues, tourist attractions, and specialty commercial streets and pedestrian zones. Strictly prohibit illegal and non-compliant practices such as surcharges, price fraud, failure to comply with government-guided prices, and unreasonably low-priced tours.Establish a management system and certification mark for high-quality tourism service commitments, and guide tourism enterprises to publish their service quality pledges. Relying on platforms such as the “12345” hotline, ensure smooth channels for tourist inquiries and complaints, and promptly resolve all types of tourism-related disputes. (Lead Agency: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism; Responsible Agency: Provincial Market Regulation Bureau)
20. Strictly enforce laws and regulations. Conduct special rectification campaigns targeting unlicensed travel agency operations, environmental hygiene in star-rated hotels, and operational order in tourist attractions. Legally investigate and punish illegal and non-compliant business practices such as unlicensed tour guides, forced shopping, abandoning or deceiving tourists, verbal abuse of tourists, failure to fulfill contracts, and arbitrary contract changes. Strengthen data sharing and the transfer of investigative leads. (Responsible Unit: Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism)
IV. Implementation Schedule
The initiative is primarily divided into three phases:
Preparation and Mobilization Phase (by the end of May 2024): Develop the implementation plan for the province-wide tourism service quality improvement campaign, organize the launch of the initiative, and carry out mobilization and deployment. Each city shall formulate implementation plans and advancement schedules, and refine the division of tasks.
Full Implementation Phase (June 2024–October 2026): Based on the action plan, research and implement measures for each task by level and category; clarify timelines, roadmaps, and accountability agreements; conduct operations with clear visual tracking and drive implementation vigorously to ensure all action objectives and tasks are fully realized.
Summary and Improvement Phase (November–December 2026): Summarize and review the implementation of the initiative across all regions; identify shortcomings by benchmarking against standards, summarize lessons learned, and report on progress; commend outstanding units, enterprises, and individuals.
V. Support Measures
(1) Strengthen Organizational Leadership. All localities must prioritize the Tourism Service Quality Improvement Initiative. The principal leaders of relevant departments must personally oversee the initiative, while the officials in charge of specific areas must actively supervise its implementation. Relevant units must be organized to fully advance the initiative, ensuring its solid and orderly execution.
(2) Strengthen Coordination and Collaboration. Led by the culture and tourism departments, coordination and collaboration with departments such as education, public security, human resources and social security, transportation, commerce, health, market regulation, and financial services must be strengthened. Difficulties and issues encountered during implementation should be promptly addressed through coordination to ensure the Tourism Service Quality Improvement Campaign achieves tangible results.
(3) Strengthen Safety Measures. All localities must organize tourist attractions, star-rated hotels, and other tourism venues to enhance the construction of safety facilities and equipment. They should revise and improve emergency response plans for personnel evacuation, search and rescue, counter-terrorism and anti-violence measures, and natural disaster prevention, and conduct drills. Training on safety awareness and operational skills for personnel at all levels and in all categories must be strengthened to provide a solid safety foundation for “Enjoy Shandong.”
(4) Strengthen Publicity and Guidance. All localities must intensify publicity efforts, fully mobilize the enthusiasm of tourists, market entities, industry organizations, and social media, and organize diverse themed activities focused on tourism service quality. Publicity should be conducted in ways that resonate with the public to foster a positive atmosphere where the entire society pays attention to and participates in improving tourism service quality.
(5) Strengthen Evaluation and Coordination. Incorporate tourism service quality evaluations into government quality assessment reviews, introduce third-party social evaluation mechanisms, and organize visitor satisfaction surveys through on-site questionnaires and online evaluations to establish a tourism service quality certification and evaluation system oriented toward visitor satisfaction. Establish tourism market service quality monitoring points and promote the application of monitoring results. Regularly report on tourism-related public sentiment, tourism complaints, and law enforcement penalties across all regions.
By the end of May 2024, all cities shall submit their implementation plans and progress schedules to the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and report on the progress of their tourism service quality improvement initiatives every six months.
