Local officials announce the start of the fifth Shandong Culture and Tourism Consumption Season on April 10. [Photo/WeChat account: sdswltwx]

The fifth Shandong Culture and Tourism Consumption Season was launched on April 10 in Zhangqiu district, Jinan, capital of Shandong province, to invigorate the recovery of local culture and tourism sectors.

Supported by the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the event has been held for four consecutive years. Governments at the provincial, city and county-levels in the province have issued consumption vouchers worth nearly 500 million yuan ($76.4 million) for the event, which has attracted 15,000 cultural and tourism enterprises and more than 870 million engagements, driving consumption of 50.5 billion yuan.

This year, Shandong will further increase capital investment, with no less than 100 million yuan in cultural tourism consumption vouchers set to be released to even more people, said local authorities.

The coupons can be used both online and offline to purchase a wide range of products and services in the culture and tourism sectors, such as tickets to art and cultural shows, scenic spot tickets, and cultural creative products.

These coupons will help foster new modes of consumption, promote the growth of online and offline consumption, and foster a complete system for domestic demand, said Shandong officials.

According to the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, it has joined hands with financial institutions such as China UnionPay and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to give greater play to the guiding role of government funds.

A cultural, tourism and art extravaganza will be held during the event to boost the high-quality development of public cultural services as well as enrich local residents' lives.

The province's 16 cities will launch a series of landmark events, including the Qingdao International Beer Festival, the Weifang International Kite Festival, the Heze International Peony Cultural Tourism Festival, and the China International Mount Tai Climbing Festival, to attract more tourists and expand the influence of urban tourism brands.