Guilin Tourism Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Guilin Tourism Company"), responsible for the operation and visitor services of core scenic spots in Guilin such as the Lijiang River and the Two Rivers and Four Lakes, recently released its annual report showing a loss of approximately 204 million RMB (123 million MYR) in 2024, with a significant drop in the number of tourists. In fact, since 2020, the company has cumulatively lost 1 billion RMB (604 million MYR).
According to reports from China News Weekly, in the view of many interviewees, the difficulties faced by Guilin Tourism Company are actually a microcosm of the overall development predicament of the tourism industry in Guilin City. In recent years, the reputation of the tourism industry in Guilin City has shown a polarized trend. On one hand, numerous tourists highly praise Guilin's natural scenery; on the other hand, issues such as mandatory consumption, overcharging tourists, excessive commercialization of scenic areas, inadequate supporting services, and chaos caused by low-cost tours frequently occur, seriously damaging the brand image and market reputation of Guilin tourism.
On April 11, Guilin Tourism Company released its 2024 annual report. Financial data showed that the company's business situation last year was not optimistic. In 2024, the operating revenue of Guilin Tourism was approximately 432 million RMB (261 million MYR), a year-on-year decline of 7.58%; the net loss was about 204 million RMB, dropping by 1830.7% year-on-year, turning from profit to loss.
In fact, Guilin Tourism Company has sustained a cumulative loss of nearly 1 billion RMB since 2020, with consecutive losses during the pandemic years from 2020 to 2022, a brief profit in 2023, and falling back into a loss in 2024.
Guilin Tourism Company explained that the reasons for the loss mainly include three factors:
First, due to intensified regional market competition and extreme flooding in Guilin, the company's tourist reception volume last year was 5.6834 million people, a year-on-year decrease of 8.12%; achieving an operating revenue of 431.6751 million RMB (260 million MYR), a year-on-year decline of 7.58%;
Second, last year the company's investment income reduced by 25.16 million RMB (15.1973 million MYR);
Third, the company and some subsidiaries listed credit impairment losses and asset impairment losses totaling 151.67 million RMB (91.6127 million MYR) as of December 31, 2024.