Lushan Ruyi Card Enables Non-Guided Tours

-Launching Ceremony for Issuance of First of its Kind Functional Card for Non-Guided Travel Held in Beijing

BEIJING, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The launching ceremony for issuance of the Lushan Ruyi Card nationwide, a functional card for non-guided visits to Lushan scenic area, was held at JW Marriott Hotel Beijing on October 30, 2012. The Lushan Ruyi Card, the first of its kind in China, features several benefits including lifelong waiver of the entrance fee and pre-paid concessions. Lushan Mountain aims to take the lead in introducing membership marketing to tourist attractions across China with the roll out of the Lushan Ruyi Card, in a move to promote leisure and vacation travel and to encourage people to take vacations without being confined to the restrictions of an organized tour group.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121105/CN05041-a )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121105/CN05041-b )

The Lushan Ruyi Card, the result of the strategic cooperation between Lushan Mountain and HNA Tour, is jointly issued by Bohai Yisheng Business Service Co., Ltd. (Yisheng) and Lushan Tourism Co., Ltd and operated by Jiangxi Zhongbang Leisure Services Co., Ltd. (Zhongbang). The Lushan Ruyi Card also signals the official start of Yisheng's plan to roll out a general purpose tourism card for domestic travelers and significant progress in Lushan Mountain's transition from a traditional sightseeing locale to one specializing in receiving visitors whose main purpose is leisure or who are on vacation.

In line with the government issued "Outline for Domestic Leisure Travel," the Lushan Ruyi Card is also intended to improve the quality of the travel experience for domestic tourists, by making leisure travel an integral part of life for a Chinese person as well as a tool for encouraging healthy consumption behaviors, as the country strives to build a harmonious and prosperous consumer-driven domestic economy. The card provides an ideal combination of travel and financial services and will act as a significant catalyst for the transition of the local tourism industry from an entrance fee-based sightseeing model to a leisure travel-based consumption one. The card also will boost the attractiveness of Lushan Mountain as a travel destination, while generally increasing tourism income, leveling out the number of tourist arrivals between peak and off-peak seasons and improving the quality of leisure time for people living in the regions surrounding the Lushan scenic area.

In the future, the "Lushan Ruyi Card" will provide cardholders with more premium services and an enhanced experience by continuously adding to the list of merchants who accept the card and expanding cooperation with other destinations nearby and across China. 

Lushan Mountain is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. It adjoins the Yangtze River to the north and Poyang Lake to the east, which, together, create a beautiful geographical environment. Lushan Mountain is also the birthplace of Chinese landscape painting, of scenic poetry, and of the Chinese form of Buddhism. As the place where the tenets of Taoism were laid down as well as a center for Neo-Confucianism, it is an ideal destination for exchanges between Chinese and western cultures as it brings together five major religions - Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism. Lushan Mountain was regarded as the Summer Capital of the Chinese National Government of Nanking, and the historic venue for the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation. It is a renowned ideal destination for recuperation and revitalization…

Soon after China's implementation of the reform and opening up policies, Lushan Mountain quickly became a destination of choice once the boom in travel got underway. Now the destination is set to make another unique contribution by shifting the focus of the experience of travel for Chinese vacationers from that of sightseeing to that of leisure, with the issuance of the Lushan Ruyi Card.

According to Zhongbang, four types of cards will be issued initially: 200,000 Silver Cards, 10,000 Gold Cards, 2,000 Diamond Cards and 1,000 Supreme Cards, respectively priced at 498 yuan, 10,000 yuan, 100,000 yuan and 280,000 yuan apiece. Holders can enjoy a variety of privileges when using the card as the admission ticket to the Lushan Mountain Scenic Area or when used to pay for other leisure-related services. The Lushan Ruyi Card, by focusing on the convenience and benefits it will provide its holders, enables a perfect traveling experience by having access to quality one-stop services.

Silver cardholders get a lifelong free pass to all of Lushan Mountain's scenic areas and can avail themselves of the pre-paid feature to recharge and use the card at will. Cardholders enjoy preferential services provided by contracted high quality merchants, while Zhongbang monitors and guarantees the quality of those merchants' services.

Gold cardholders are entitled to all the same benefits available to silver cardholders. In addition, gold cardholders can offer free silver cards to three people per year during the initial five years of membership or, as a one shot deal, to ten people upon acquiring the card for themselves. Moreover, gold cardholders can receive value-added services such as free hotel accommodation upgrades during the same five-year benefit period.

Diamond cardholders can provide free silver cards to 25 people each year during the five-year benefit period, or to 80 people at once upon signing up. Cardholders, whether they be individuals or organizations, can avail themselves of Zhongbang's housekeeping services during the entire length of two stays per year at Lushan Mountain, as long as the length of any one stay does not exceed four days. Zhongbang will customize the housekeeping services to be supplied based on individual needs..

Supreme cardholders can provide silver cards for free to 50 people each year for five years, or to 180 people at the time of signing up. They can also receive value-added services such as free villa accommodation upgrade, as well as the housekeeping services.

To date, 36 high quality merchants have signed up to be a Lushan Ruyi Card Merchant, including scenic spot operators, hotels, restaurants, spas, retail shops and transportation service providers in the Lushan Mountain area, providing a full-service travel experience for all cardholders covering dining, accommodation, transportation, touring, shopping and entertainment. Card operator Zhongbang monitors and guarantees the quality of merchants' services. The Lushan Ruyi Card is a valuable leisure and travel companion, as well as a precious gift for friends and relatives. For more information, please visit the Lushan website or call 400-1078888.

CONTACT:
Hu Xinyi
Beijing Innovative Linkage International Communications Consulting Co., Ltd.
+86 135 2004 9908
cindy927@163.com