Huanglong County has released its 2025 list of cultural tourism industry subsidies (totaling 9.12 million yuan), focusing on supporting the upgrading of eco-friendly homestays that meet the standards of the "Tourism Homestay Management Measures." While the release date is not specified, this falls under the scope of the 2025 fiscal budget and is currently in the public comment period. This policy trend has direct reference value for eco-tourism operations, low-carbon accommodation certification services, sustainable travel procurement, and regional cultural tourism supply chain enterprises, as it is driving the formation of the first regional low-carbon homestay certification cluster in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border area and has triggered substantial responses from international ESG-oriented travel brands.

Event Overview

Huanglong County has released its 2025 list of cultural tourism industry subsidies, totaling 9.12 million yuan. The funds will be used to support eco-friendly homestays that meet national standards under the "Regulations on the Management of Tourist Homestays." This subsidy is a local government incentive measure aimed at promoting the upgrading of local homestays towards standardization, ecological sustainability, and low-carbon practices. The list has been publicly announced and is a publicly verifiable administrative procedure. Known progress includes: this policy is facilitating the formation of a regional low-carbon homestay certification cluster in the border area between Shaanxi and Gansu provinces; and sustainable travel brands such as Canada's Intrepid Travel have initiated joint certification negotiations.

Which sub-sectors will be affected?

ecotourism operating companies

Because the subsidies are directly aimed at "eco-friendly homestay renovation to meet standards," operating entities must complete multi-dimensional compliance upgrades in accordance with the "Tourism Homestay Management Measures," including hardware, services, energy consumption, and waste management. The impact is reflected in: changes in the cost structure of renovation investment, the linkage between the certification cycle and the subsidy payment schedule, and the need for cross-regional chain operations to adapt to the different implementation standards in Shaanxi and Gansu.

Low-carbon certification and standards service companies

The formation of regional certification clusters signifies an increased demand from third-party organizations for on-site verification, system guidance, and ongoing monitoring services in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region. The main impacts are: single-regional certification products are insufficient to cover the common requirements of the cluster; and there is a need to collaborate with local cultural and tourism departments to establish verification pathways for local implementation rules adapted to the "Management Measures for Tourist Homestays."

International sustainable travel buyers (including OTAs and wholesalers)

Brands like Intrepid Travel have initiated joint certification negotiations, indicating that their ESG supply chain audits are shifting from individual project assessments to regional cluster access mechanisms. The impact is reflected in: procurement agreements may include standardized carbon emission accounting templates, localized employee training and certification clauses, and performance-based incentive conditions linked to local government incentive policies.

Regional cultural tourism supply chain enterprises (including building materials, equipment, and digital system providers)

The compliance upgrades involve energy-saving lighting, wastewater treatment, the application of renewable materials, and the deployment of intelligent energy management systems, driving upstream suppliers to adapt to the green procurement list. The main impacts are: products must have verifiable low-carbon attribute certifications (such as EPD reports and green building material labels); and delivery cycles must match local government subsidy application deadlines (such as upgrade completion → acceptance → funding).

What key areas should relevant enterprises or practitioners focus on, and how should they respond at present?

Pay attention to the subsequent developments in local implementation rules and acceptance standards.

Currently, only the "Administrative Measures for Tourist Homestays" are explicitly stated as the basis for acceptance, but Huanglong County and the Shaanxi-Gansu collaborative region have not yet released supporting detailed acceptance rules. Enterprises should continuously monitor announcements on the official websites of the Huanglong County Culture and Tourism Bureau and the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, paying particular attention to whether supplementary explanations have been issued for quantitative indicators such as energy consumption limits, wastewater reuse rates, and the proportion of local materials.

Distinguishing between policy signals and the actual pace of business implementation

The public announcement of the subsidy recipients is part of the fiscal budget execution process and does not equate to the full launch of the renovation project. Enterprises should not immediately expand production capacity or sign long-term procurement agreements. Instead, they should prioritize contacting the publicly announced subsidy recipients to verify their renovation timelines, technical routes, and certified partners to determine the window of opportunity for genuine demand release.

In advance, clarify the mapping relationship between the product/service and the provisions of the "Administrative Measures for Tourist Homestays".

For example, companies that provide air source heat pumps must clearly indicate their COP value, applicable climate zone, and the corresponding basis for the "energy-saving equipment" clause in the regulations; manufacturers that provide PMS systems should prepare explanations of the implementation of mandatory functions such as "safety information registration" and "tourist satisfaction evaluation" in the service modules.

Carefully participate in the early stages of cross-regional certification negotiations

Brands like Intrepid Travel are still in the "joint certification negotiation" stage, and have not yet signed an agreement. Relevant parties should participate as observers in coordination meetings organized by local organizations, focusing on identifying differences between their ESG audit frameworks and domestic standards (such as whether scope three carbon emission disclosure is required), to avoid prematurely committing to compliance outputs beyond their current capabilities.

Editor's Viewpoint / Industry Observation

Observably, this notice functions primarily as a policy signal—not yet an operational outcome. The formation of a regional low-carbon certification cluster remains emergent, contingent on inter-provincial coordination and actual uptake by certified operators. From an industry perspective, it reflects a growing alignment between local fiscal tools and global ESG procurement logic, but the linkage is still procedural rather than systemic. Analysis shows that the real test lies not in subsidy disbursement, but in whether the cluster can sustain third-party verification consistency across jurisdictions—and whether international buyers treat it as a replicable model beyond Intrepid's pilot engagement.

In conclusion, this announcement of subsidies represents a concrete attempt to connect local cultural and tourism policies with global sustainable travel practices. Its industry significance lies in validating that fiscal incentives can serve as a starting lever for building regional low-carbon service standards. However, it should currently be understood as a phased policy interface test rather than the establishment of a mature market mechanism. Industry participants should view it as an important benchmark for observing the effectiveness of central-local government collaboration and the progress of localizing international ESG procurement, maintaining a pragmatic approach and avoiding over-predicting large-scale effects.

Information Sources: The main information comes from the official website of the Huanglong County People's Government (List of Cultural Tourism Industry Awards and Subsidies for 2025), the "Administrative Measures for Tourist Homestays" (Ministry of Culture and Tourism Announcement No. 1 of 2017), and Intrepid Travel's official press release (Q3 2024 Sustainable Procurement Update). Areas to be continuously observed: Whether Shaanxi and Gansu provinces have jointly issued regional technical guidelines for low-carbon certification of homestays; whether Intrepid Travel's joint certification negotiations have resulted in a publicly available memorandum or pilot list.