Abstract: Starting from the current tourism situation of the ancient towns,and applying the theory of tourism destination system,this paper analyses the current tourism situation of the four ancient towns in the western Hunan.Some measures are proposed to develop the tourism of the ancient towms in western Hunan,such as,the development of infrastructure,environmental governance with much cooperation,brand-building,the development of tourism cluster and integrating them into the “Three Gorges” tourism circle and the “big Xiang Xi” tourism circle.

Key words: the theory of tourism destination system, tourism cooperation, tourism industry cluster