From Barren Wilderness to Renowned Resort Village: How to Face Development Bottlenecks Once a National Sensation

In the early years, China's agricultural tourism development was strong. Whether in the economically developed Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region or the picturesque Yunnan-Guizhou-Sichuan area, there were agricultural ecological scenic spots with stunning views and beautiful environments. In the late last century, farmers in Ningguo City, southern Anhui, adjacent to Zhejiang, had already learned from the agricultural economic models of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, developing a famous resort on barren wilderness. This resort, once popular across the country, is now facing a development bottleneck. Is there a way to deal with this bottleneck? I believe everything depends on human effort; there are always solutions, and the key lies in how the management operates. Below, I briefly share my humble opinions, merely as a starting point for discussion.

In terms of new rural construction and agricultural tourism development, Ningguo City ranks among the top counties in Anhui Province, with the most representative example being Enlong World Log Cabin Village. When it comes to tourism in Ningguo City, the vast majority of visitors immediately think of Enlong World Log Cabin Village, or simply Enlong Villa. This Enlong Villa was originally developed from nearly ten thousand mu of barren wilderness, and its developers were local farmers in Ningguo City. It is truly remarkable that farmers could create the most successful resort in Anhui. Let's take a look at this resort.

Initially, this World Log Cabin Village was a small-scale resort. To encourage the development of the agricultural economy and promote the “unification of the dual structure,” the local government provided more preferential policies to Enlong Villa. Gradually, it evolved into Enlong World Log Cabin Village, characterized by villa clusters from various countries. However, locals still habitually call it Enlong Villa. At the time, it was a very successful tourism complex, but now it has fallen behind and is facing a development bottleneck. There are reasons for this decline and bottleneck, including objective conditions and many human factors.

The Chinese Folk Customs Park and Forest Villas were the first projects developed at Enlong Villa. As landmarks of Enlong Villa, they have hosted many high-end clients. The area boasts beautiful mountains and clear waters, and a pleasant environment, making it a typical natural forest oxygen bar. So why has it encountered a development bottleneck? In my opinion, the main reason is still the mindset.

Based on local information, I learned that Enlong Villa is a resort under the Enlong Group, whose main business is landscape construction. The group focuses on landscape planning and construction, which are more profitable. Tourism, on the other hand, is not highly valued by management because it generates profits slowly and has a long return cycle. After all, in terms of economic development, prioritizing landscape planning and construction is not wrong; the problem lies in the mindset regarding tourism.

For a company to develop, economic profit is paramount, especially in this era of worldly concerns—wherever the money is, that's where you attack. However, although tourism yields slow economic returns and has a long investment cycle, it can drive the development of many related industries. Therefore, the tourism industry should not be relaxed; it should develop simultaneously with the landscape industry. Whether it's the forest log cabin villas or the Southeast Asian-style gardens, visitor numbers have dropped significantly, and income is far less than before. Too many empty rooms seem to have discouraged the management, and some even propose selling the villa clusters.

Clear waters and green mountains are gold and silver mountains. With such a good ecological environment, there are resources for development. These resources require human management to achieve economic benefits. For example, seeking cooperation with high-end resort hotel operators and professional hotel brands for management, with profit sharing based on a certain ratio—professional companies doing professional work—over time, this can lead to a healthy tourism development path.

In terms of talent utilization, traditional thinking must also be broken. It cannot be overly conservative. For instance, there was a talented person in tourism management, but his ideas didn't quite align with the management's, so he was not hired, resulting in a loss of talent resources. In the eyes of management, many people's ideas may seem “impractical,” but they could be the most cutting-edge and promising concepts. Adhering to the principle of “not sticking to one pattern in selecting talents” for human resource management is also an important way to break through development bottlenecks.

Currently, Enlong's tourism industry faces significant development bottlenecks. Is there any future? Definitely yes! First, the tourism industry is an important part of China's national economy in the future. High-end resort hotels and pristine ecological environments are valuable resources, which are even scarcer in economically developed regions. Second, as China is about to enter the post-industrial era, the demand for high-end clients and high-quality leisure destinations will greatly increase. Finally, Ningguo's unique geographical location will lead to explosive growth in tourism sectors such as leisure vacations and eco-tourism, and this trend is very promising.

Ningguo is 150 kilometers north of Nanjing, 270 kilometers from Hefei, 110 kilometers south of Huangshan, 120 kilometers east of Huzhou, and only 120 kilometers southeast of Hangzhou. With planned high-speed railways and highways, the spatial distance between Ningguo and surrounding economically developed areas and world-famous tourist cities will be greatly shortened. For example, once the high-speed rail from Huzhou to Huangshan, from Nanjing to Nanchang, and from Hefei via Ningguo to Hangzhou are completed, they will form a multi-directional economic corridor. Whether for industrial trade or eco-tourism economy, Ningguo has a very bright future. With a high-end client base, supporting hotel facilities must be in place. The villa clusters at Enlong Villa are a great resource, and efforts can be made to cooperate with world-class hotel brands to create a local high-end resort area in Ningguo.

In recent years, Ningguo's tourism development has been fairly good. Even under objective conditions where external transportation is not highly developed, the city received over 10 million tourists annually, which is already commendable. With the improvement of external transportation and the upgrade of key routes such as the tourism IP “Southern Anhui Sichuan-Tibet Line” and “Jiangnan Tanggula Range,” Ningguo's tourism economy is expected to become an industrial cluster comparable to its industrial economy in the future. Rapid tourism economic development and a huge tourism market will naturally demand high-quality accommodation and distinctive dining. Enlong can leverage its advantages to improve the accommodation and catering industries. These are just some humble opinions from me, hoping to serve as a starting point for discussions on Ningguo's tourism development ideas.