The development of urban tourism in Huizhou can be traced back to 1972, when the West Lake Management Committee was restored in Huizhou City, which was originally under the jurisdiction of Huiyang area. That year, Huizhou also established the first batch of travel agencies: West Lake Travel Agency and Overseas Chinese Travel Agency. The garden attractions of West Lake are now open to citizens and those who come to Huizhou for business or vacation. In 1974, in order to meet the needs of overseas Chinese affairs, we began organizing overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao to visit Huizhou, and opened two reception bases, Fanghuazhou and Hongmian Shuixie. In 1979, the purpose of the travel agency organizing a special team to promote tourism gradually became clear. In March 1980, the first foreign tourist group to visit Huizhou, the Japan Trail Short Song Festival Huizhou inspection team of 27 people, arrived in Huizhou for inspection, marking the beginning of foreign tourism in Huizhou. Afterwards, tourists from other Western countries came to Huizhou for tourism, marking the prelude of Huizhou's tourism industry opening up to the outside world.
At that time, tourism was a political task, and visiting scenic spots was secondary. The primary task of personnel coming to Huizhou is to inspect the new socialist appearance of Huizhou, such as visiting Huizhou sugar factory, machinery factory, shipyard, or watching children's cultural performances in factory kindergartens, and finally visiting West Lake. In the era of planned economy, people who came to Huizhou were arranged by the state, and ordinary people may not have the opportunity to "travel" to Huizhou. In the 1980s, the number of tourist destinations in Huizhou ranked second and third in the province. But at that time, the urban construction in Huizhou was backward, and there was really nothing worth visiting. Tourists coming to Huizhou mainly visit historical sites and appreciate natural scenery. Huizhou has beautiful scenery and unique advantages, integrating "mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, springs, waterfalls, forests, streams, and islands". West Lake, known as "Luoluo Xizi", Luofu Mountain, known as the "ancestor of the Hundred Yue Mountains", and Tangquan, known as the "first soup in Lingnan", were known as the "three treasures" of Huizhou at that time. The beautiful scenery attracted tourists from outside the country. In addition, Huizhou also has Nankunshan, a summer resort known as a natural oxygen bar; There is also a seaside resort called Xunliao Bay.
In 1978, there were no modern tourist hotels in the city of Huizhou. The city only had one or two hotels in the Huiyang area, as well as workers', peasants', and soldiers' hotels, West Lake Hotel, Dongxing Restaurant, Dongjiang Hotel, and Huizhou Building for accommodation and meals, with less than 1000 beds available. The Gushan Hotel, a Sino foreign cooperative, opened in November 1979, mainly serving Hong Kong, Macao, and overseas Chinese. Due to the large number of tourists, the beds at Gushan Hotel are so tight that folding beds are placed in the hotel's restaurants, corridors, stairwells, and even offices for guests to sleep on. Until the mid-1980s, Huizhou Hotel, West Lake Hotel, Jinhua Hotel, and Yinhua Hotel were gradually built and put into use, and the tourism conditions had been improved. The period from 1989 to 1993 was a low point for the development of tourism in Huizhou. It was not until the 21st century that the tourism industry in Huizhou slowly recovered, with an increasing number of tourist attractions and high-end hotels. Nowadays, the tourism industry has become the leading force in the development of the tertiary industry in Huizhou city.