Expert Analysis: From Single Tourism Land Guarantee to Coordinated Allocation of Tourism-Related Na…

Key points

• The 2015 tourism land policy issued by three ministries had a five-year validity period that expired in 2020.
• The new guidance is not a simple renewal but a re-integration of tourism factor policies under the 'multi-plan integration' territorial spatial planning system, land-use control system, and natural resource asset management framework.
• The guidance requires integrating 15th Five-Year Plan tourism spatial needs into the 'one map', moving the demonstration process earlier to reduce repeated adjustments caused by permanent basic farmland and ecological protection red lines.
• Land-use control no longer treats all tourism activity land as construction project land, instead applying differentiated management based on planned use, occupation method, intensity, and ecological impact.
• The guidance proposes studying new land categories suited to tourism industry development and exploring managing multiple plots as one parcel and combined supply of natural resource assets.
• The guidance requires establishing criteria for identifying inefficient tourism land; using existing industrial land and old factories for cultural tourism can enjoy a five-year transition period under original use and rights type.