Three departments jointly issue a document to optimize the allocation of natural resources for the tourism industry

The Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration recently jointly issued guiding opinions to promote the standardized and orderly development of the tourism industry by focusing on optimizing spatial layout, improving landuse regulation, innovating land supply models, and revitalizing inefficient land use. The document proposes coordinating tourism development needs within the framework of territorial spatial planning and strengthening scientific site selection and planning alignment. The opinions make clear that, for small supporting facilities related to the tourism industry and scattered public service outlets, among others, they may be managed as their original land category provided that the conditions are met, so as to ease the difficulty some cultural and tourism projects face in getting off the ground. At the same time, localities may, in light of actual conditions, explore the identification of inefficient tourism land and the reuse of existing resources, and support the integrated development of diverse sectors such as culture and tourism. The document also stresses the need to hold the line on landuse and ecological boundaries, strictly prohibiting the unauthorized alteration of the current land status and planned land use under the guise of tourism projects for real estate, villas, private estates, golf courses, and other developments. Relevant departments said this move aims to improve the efficiency of natural resource allocation and promote the highquality development of the tourism industry.