Jiuzhaigou’s tourism industry ponders its future after quake
While Sichuan’s renowned World Heritage national park will eventually recover, many local businesses may not be able to afford the wait
The domestic tourism boom has been a godsend for the remote villages of Jiuzhaigou county, but now many local businesses are facing a heartbreaking decision – stay or go.
Tuesday’s earthquake claimed at least 24 lives, injured 493 people and caused widespread damage at Jiuzhaigou National Park, one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions, and its surrounds.
It should be the start of peak season at the park – in the week before the quake, it had some 40,000 visitors per day – but instead, many operators are wondering whether to cut their losses and leave, or wait it out for facilities to be rebuilt and start again.
The Unesco World Heritage Site is famous for its otherworldly beauty – waterfalls and iridescent lakes that shimmer against a backdrop of deciduous forests and snow-capped mountains.
Since the magnitude 7 earthquake, photos and videos of the destruction it caused at popular attractions in the park have been widely circulated online.