The iconic Yellow Mountains of Huangshan, China boast the only Global Destination Stewardship Award in the country and an UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. Huangshan Scenic Area, China (HSAC) are longtime members of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and past participants of the GSTC Early Adopters Program. Given these accomplishments, HSAC will be hosting the GSTC’s 2015 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Huangshan this upcoming September.
Partnership with GSTC
With rapidly increasing visitations, HSAC aims to utilize the partnership with GSTC to gain new techniques including reducing noise and sight pollution, improving best practices in water and energy use. Perhaps most important for a site in China, conveying the message of sustainability to the visiting public will prove to be the most impactful change. This inspiring landscape is the perfect backdrop for a lesson in the value of preservation, as well as its economic benefits. HSAC has already capped daily visitor numbers, added alternative trails to alleviate overuse of the most popular ones, promoted winter visits, and closed certain “hot spots” on a rotating basis.
Message From GSTC CEO, Randy Durband
“Mount Huangshan, often described as the ‘loveliest mountain of China’, has played an important role in the history of art and literature in China since the Tang Dynasty around the 8th century, when a legend dated from the year 747 described the mountain as the place of discovery of the long-sought elixir of immortality. Mount Huangshan became a magnet for hermits, poets and landscape artists, fascinated by its dramatic mountainous landscape consisting of numerous granitic peaks, many over 1,000 m high, emerging through a perpetual sea of clouds. During the Ming Dynasty from around the 16th century, this landscape and its numerous grotesquely-shaped rocks and ancient, gnarled trees inspired the influential Shanshui (literally “mountain and water” but with a deeper spiritual meaning) school of landscape painting, providing a fundamental representation of the oriental landscape in the world’s imagination and art. Huangshan was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1990, designated as a ‘mixed’ inscription based on both cultural and natural heritage attributes.”
HSAC hosting the GSTC Annual General Meeting
The GSTC encourages current members and other tourism professionals to participate in the 5th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Huangshan, China, September 10-13, 2015. This annual event will feature keynotes from industry leaders, updates for the GSTC Board, education sessions and more. Discounted prices on accommodations and event registration will be available for GSTC Members. Details of program and registration will be available soon.
For inquiries or questions regarding the AGM, please email members@gstcouncil.org
