Dunhuang city promotes digital tourism

Dunhuang city, in the northwest of Gansu province, utilized digital tools in 2014 in order to boost its tourism, achieving fruitful results.

The city launched its smart tourism official website on Aug 30, 2014, which marks its entering into the era of big data. The smart tourism website introduces travel routes and information based on visitors' browsing habits, searches and data.

On Sept 30, Dunhuang opened online store at the Chinese online marketplace, Tmall, to sell tickets. So far, it has sold around 11,000 tickets and received 170,352 unique visitors.

Additionally, Crescent Moon Spring and Mingsha (Singing Sand) Mountains – famous scenic spots in Dunhuang – have started providing Wi-Fi and electronic tickets, such as QR code and phone verification codes, to visitors.

Many of the city's major tourist attractions have also employed three-dimensional maps and GPS digital audio guides to enhance the visitor experience.

By Li Xiaoxu and edited by Jacob Hooson