Natural treasures enhance Jiuzhaigou National Park’s appeal

Jiuzhaigou National Park is rightfully viewed as one of China’s natural treasures for its multihued lakes, tiered waterfalls and snowy peaks, so it’s no surprise that this Unesco World Heritage site attracted more than 5 million visitors in 2016.

While Mother Nature has endowed the area with unrivalled beauty, the region suffered a setback in August when a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake rattled it in August. The tremor forced the park and neighbouring hotels to close for autumn and winter, but the local government is already rebuilding and preparing to reopen key tourism facilities in the area.

“We remain optimistic because the rebuilding effort represents an opportunity to further improve the accessibility of the destination and because of rising interest in the destination as a majority of the spots are not impacted, says Edward Yuan, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton, Jiuzhaigou.

Visitors will benefit from a wide array of places to stay when things return to normal. “The hotel supply in Jiuzhaigou is rather diversified and there are more than 500 hotels in the area, [ranging] from local guest houses to international chain hotels,” Yuan says.

There are relatively few “corporate guests within the travel market, it’s mainly leisure from all backgrounds”, says Dominique Galperti, general manager of the Banyan Tree Jiuzhaigou.

Although most guests arrive on group tours, Yuan estimates that 40 per cent of tourists make the journey as fully independent travellers. He says many travellers at the upper end of the markets are looking to visit the park at the same time as they “spend quality time reconnecting with who and what they love”.