Lijiang steps up smart tourism development

A news release is held on June 6 in Lijiang, Yunnan province. [Photo by He Hongyan/news.cn]

Lijiang, Yunnan province is now one step closer to making smart tourism a reality after completing initial development on the application "E-Travel", according to a news release on June 12.

The government-sponsored application covers transportation, accommodations and ticket reservations across Yunnan province and is a shining example of how to integrate tourism with the internet.

Since the app began development on Sept 29, 2017, Lijiang has gradually completed preparation work and has incorporated 23 cities and scenic areas into the platform.

The app currently has 957 hotels, 351 restaurants, 139 travel agencies and 42 tour routes listed from across Lijiang. Two waves of training sessions have resulted in a total of 843 online tour guides being listed on the app.

Statistics show that nine complaints have been handled, with three valid complaints being resolved since the app was released on June 1.

The city has upgraded seven parking lots in the Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area and two in the Old Town of Lijiang to ensure the data can be collected by the app.

Lijiang will continue to perfect the data system by providing more complete information, strengthening supervision of online business owners and dealing with complaints, according to Wang Hui, an official from the Lijiang Tourism Development Commission.