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Yunnan tourism
(this article originally appeared as a part of
Crown Jewels of the Greater Mekong Region)
As China continues to open its doors to the world, the country's southernmost province of Yunnan, with a population of 39 million, is revealing strong potential for tourism expansion.
Li Jiating, Yunnan's vice-governor, has described the province as rich in tourism resources, with potential for future development and said Yunnan was ready to cooperate in tourism projects with foreign countries. He claimed "tourism would quickly become an industry pillar," adding investors could set up projects such as hotels and resort, holiday villas, recreational facilities, shopping centers and high standard residential apartments.
In 1994 Yunnan attracted 520,000 international visitors and earned US$124,000 million in foreign currency. This is compared to 1979 when the province hosted a meagre 13,400 foreign visitors for a foreign currency earning of US$830,000. 1993 saw Yunnan draw some 12.5 million domestic visitors.
China views Southeast Asia as a significant potential source market for tourists, in particular to Yunnan. Over recent years the province has become China's most popular destination for Southeast Asian holiday makers. By the year 2000 a projected one million international visitors and 20 million domestic visitors from within China will travel to Yunnan. Consequently the income from foreign currency should grow to US$500 million.
Vice-governor Lijiang said there were around 90 travel routes between Yunnan and its neighbors and highlighted several railway links as well as international air links between Kunming and Hong Kong, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Yangon, Singapore and Vientiane.
A new railway from Kunmig to Nanjing should be finished in the next couple of years, plus a provincial rail link between Guangdong and Dali. There's also the possibility of a high-grade highway and railway system connecting Yunnan with Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
The Mekong River plays an important part in both passenger and cargo transportation in Southeast Asia. Over the years China has established travel and tourist routes around the Mekong with other nations in the region and is now looking to improve the navigability of some sectors of the river, which right now are either very difficult to travel or impossible. Yunnan had applied to the Asian Development Bank, along with other countries in the region, for financial aid to improve this navigation.