Dujiangyan builds itself into an int'l tourism draw

Dujiangyan, a city noted for its Dujiangyan Irrigation System, Mount Qingcheng and giant panda habitat, is bolstering its efforts of building itself into a prestigious international tourism city.

Effect picture of Dujiangyan Wanda Cultural Tourism City [File photo]

With a deal inked in April 2015, China's Wanda Group will invest a total of 55 billion yuan (US$8.87 billion) to develop the Dujiangyan Wanda Cultural Tourism City, aiming to building Dujiangyan into a global tourism Mecca.

The tourism center, which covers an area of around 335 hectares, will offer diversified holiday-taking and entertainment options, such as a top-notch cinema experience, theme park, bar street, and a state-of-the-art indoor ski slope.

The tourism center is slated to open to the public at the end of 2019. It is expected to create at least 30,000 jobs and rake in 5 billion yuan in annual income by receiving 30 million tourists per year.

CITIC Group has invested 5 billion yuan to build a wetland, a waterfront commercial center and boutique hotels in the city. The company will also develop a theme park featuring the giant panda.

The city's Binjiang New District, known as home to a number of heavyweight projects, including Wanda's tourism center, is gearing up its efforts to improve its infrastructure and facilities. The district will feature unique water sports and health and recreation tourism activities in a livable area.

To fulfil the goal of building itself into an international tourism draw, Dujiangyan will always focus on tourism industrialization and the city's internationalization, an official said.

Efforts will be made to draw in 1,000 large-scale tourism-related companies with a total investment of 100 billion yuan. Services at the city's hot destinations, such as the Mount Qingcheng-Dujiangyan Scenic Area , will be upgraded and new tourism products will be rolled out to generate greater economic benefits.

Dujiangyan will also quicken its step in making the city more livable. Transportation infrastructure will be a top priority and greatly improved, while around 100 waterscapes and 335 hectares of green area will be in place to make an agreeable urban eco-environment.

The city aims to quadruple its tourism income between 2016 and 2021, with the added value of tourism taking up 35 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2021.