The 2025 Hunan Provincial Football League (Xiangchao) not only ignited the enthusiasm for competition on the green field, but also sparked a boom in the cultural and tourism market in Beihu District, Chenzhou City.

Beihu District has launched a series of discounts for match watching and tourism, connecting the entire chain of food, accommodation, transportation, tourism, shopping and entertainment services, promoting the deep integration of sports and cultural tourism, and injecting new momentum into regional economic development.

As a typical carrier of the integration of sports and cultural tourism in Beihu District, Yangtian Lake Grassland Scenic Area launched special discounts for the event. During the week of home games in Chenzhou, referees with their relevant documents, athletes of away teams and citizens can enjoy a 20% discount of admission tickets with their ID cards. Football fans from other places can also enjoy this discount with game tickets and ID cards.

This policy has enabled many fans to enjoy the grassland during the day and watch football games at night.

Many tourists specially came for Xiangchao and for travelling in Chenzhou as well. A tourist from Guangdong Province said her trip was carefully planned, allowing her to “experience the thrill of football games and enjoy the natural scenery of Chenzhou". Another tourist found the model a great idea, saying “Tourists are drawn to Chenzhou through football games, and then they will likely come to visit again for the charm of Chenzhou’s cultural tourism.”  

Beihu District has launched ticket packages, which covers scenic spot tickets, hotel accommodation, specialty catering, and cultural and creative products.

Lu Ping, a native of Hunan coming from the GBA, highly recognized this innovative model. He said, “I am very optimistic about the innovative model of ‘events and cultural tourism and consumption’, and I hope Chenzhou can hold more similar activities in the future. In my opinion, events are the best advertising, cultural tourism is the reason to stay, consumption is the ultimate result, and activities are the city's festivals. I sincerely hope that Chenzhou can hold more such activities and eventually become a benchmark city for the integrated development of sports and tourism in China and even globally.”

Beihu district will continue to expand cultural, sport and tourism consumption scenarios to attract more visitors.

Chinese source: rednet