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Thousand Island Lake gets 1,000 cheers for fun
By Xu Wenwen |
November 22, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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ITALIAN expat Giustino Quattrocchi works in Hangzhou and took a weekend off with his girlfriend last weekend to visit nearby Thousand Island Lake (Qiandao) scenic area.
After a short drive of less than two hours, they visited the lake, stayed in a five-star hotel and toured an ancient town nearby.
Last year, around 3.5 million visitors visited the lake, a man-made scenic area that takes advantage of a dam that flooded a valley, exposing mountain tops that became islands. Nearly 70 percent of the visitors drove their own cars.
When a high-speed train link from Hangzhou to the lake is completed in 2013, travel time by rail will be shortened to 40 minutes. The trip from Shanghai to the lake will take around an hour.
However, 20 years ago, villagers living around the lake had to spend a day to reach urban Hangzhou due to poor transport. Hangzhou's Chun'an County, where the lake is located, used to be one of the poorest counties in Zhejiang Province.
Today, Thousand Island Lake scenic area has become a model tourist destination and major topic of discussion at the Hangzhou International Tourism and Leisure Forum last week.
The forum was part of the recent 2011 World Leisure Expo in Hangzhou. The forum was organized by the city government and Zhejiang Tourism Bureau.
The forum was attended by nearly 200 experts and leisure industry representatives from more than 30 countries and regions. The topic was how to enlarge the tourism market and how to upgrade and promote leisure tourism.
"After agriculture revolution and technology revolution, there will be a leisure revolution," Drake Kacey, chairman of World Leisure Organization, said in a speech.
As living standards rise around the world, leisure is now a driver of social, cultural and economic development and contributes greatly to GNP, he said, adding that government should encourage residents to take vacations not "staycations."
Adjustment
Richard Beere, former PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) chairman, said scenic area can only move on to the international market after it has operated well in local markets. To become international does not mean a place must change a tourism project, he told Shanghai Daily. "It just needs to adjust."
"A product cannot be changed, but it can be adjusted to suit international customers, so its delivery to various people can be very different," he said, adding that he enjoys "Impression of West Lake," a light, music and dance spectacular on a water stage on West Lake. It satisfies both local and international markets, he said.
Fang Yang, director of Chun'an Tourism Bureau, said the county had spent two decades to turn the bare islands into lush mountains; he said the land is 95 percent forested. In three years around 10 five-star hotels have been built in the area.
"Thousand Island Lake is a product, and we made it into an industry by developing multi-level experiences for tourists," Fang said. To appeal to the international market, the local government plans to establish a "pleasure ground" and provide more areas for aquatic sports.
Experts also said that leisure tourism should be upgraded.
Zhang Guangrui, director of the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said tourism can not exist without culture and only tourism products that are oriented toward culture have long-term appeal.
Li Hong, director of Hangzhou Tourism Commission, agreed about the enduring emphasis on culture. Since West Lake was listed as an intangible example of world landscape heritage, more international media have interpreted West Lake in terms of cultural appeal, boosting the number of overseas visitors.
Given the fact that urban Hangzhou is limited in space, the expansion and upgrading of tourism to other areas is essential. The concept of Greater Hangzhou now also includes Jiande, Lin'an, Fuyang, Chun'an and Tonglu counties.
Rural tourism in Hangzhou has also been developing for the past decade. It generated revenue of 511 million yuan (US$80 million) during the first nine months of this year.
After a short drive of less than two hours, they visited the lake, stayed in a five-star hotel and toured an ancient town nearby.
Last year, around 3.5 million visitors visited the lake, a man-made scenic area that takes advantage of a dam that flooded a valley, exposing mountain tops that became islands. Nearly 70 percent of the visitors drove their own cars.
When a high-speed train link from Hangzhou to the lake is completed in 2013, travel time by rail will be shortened to 40 minutes. The trip from Shanghai to the lake will take around an hour.
However, 20 years ago, villagers living around the lake had to spend a day to reach urban Hangzhou due to poor transport. Hangzhou's Chun'an County, where the lake is located, used to be one of the poorest counties in Zhejiang Province.
Today, Thousand Island Lake scenic area has become a model tourist destination and major topic of discussion at the Hangzhou International Tourism and Leisure Forum last week.
The forum was part of the recent 2011 World Leisure Expo in Hangzhou. The forum was organized by the city government and Zhejiang Tourism Bureau.
The forum was attended by nearly 200 experts and leisure industry representatives from more than 30 countries and regions. The topic was how to enlarge the tourism market and how to upgrade and promote leisure tourism.
"After agriculture revolution and technology revolution, there will be a leisure revolution," Drake Kacey, chairman of World Leisure Organization, said in a speech.
As living standards rise around the world, leisure is now a driver of social, cultural and economic development and contributes greatly to GNP, he said, adding that government should encourage residents to take vacations not "staycations."
Adjustment
Richard Beere, former PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) chairman, said scenic area can only move on to the international market after it has operated well in local markets. To become international does not mean a place must change a tourism project, he told Shanghai Daily. "It just needs to adjust."
"A product cannot be changed, but it can be adjusted to suit international customers, so its delivery to various people can be very different," he said, adding that he enjoys "Impression of West Lake," a light, music and dance spectacular on a water stage on West Lake. It satisfies both local and international markets, he said.
Fang Yang, director of Chun'an Tourism Bureau, said the county had spent two decades to turn the bare islands into lush mountains; he said the land is 95 percent forested. In three years around 10 five-star hotels have been built in the area.
"Thousand Island Lake is a product, and we made it into an industry by developing multi-level experiences for tourists," Fang said. To appeal to the international market, the local government plans to establish a "pleasure ground" and provide more areas for aquatic sports.
Experts also said that leisure tourism should be upgraded.
Zhang Guangrui, director of the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said tourism can not exist without culture and only tourism products that are oriented toward culture have long-term appeal.
Li Hong, director of Hangzhou Tourism Commission, agreed about the enduring emphasis on culture. Since West Lake was listed as an intangible example of world landscape heritage, more international media have interpreted West Lake in terms of cultural appeal, boosting the number of overseas visitors.
Given the fact that urban Hangzhou is limited in space, the expansion and upgrading of tourism to other areas is essential. The concept of Greater Hangzhou now also includes Jiande, Lin'an, Fuyang, Chun'an and Tonglu counties.
Rural tourism in Hangzhou has also been developing for the past decade. It generated revenue of 511 million yuan (US$80 million) during the first nine months of this year.
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