The infrastructure around the lush tropical border region Xishuangbanna will be developed to explore a huge domestic and international tourism potential in the border region, Lu Yonghe, Deputy Head of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, which borders Myanmar and Laos to its south, said.
The government plans to make Xishuangbanna a resort region in line with international standards, as the area boasts natural beauty and an abundance of relaxation and hospitality facilities, Yonghe said.
In the next five years, Xishuangbanna plans to construct more than 10 top tourist destinations and attract more than 10 globally-recognised hotel chains, state run Xinhua News agency quoted Yonghe as saying.
Xishuangbanna is part of a large tropical virgin forest that covers southwest China's Yunnan province as well as northern Myanmar and Laos.
The region is a home to diverse wild plant and animal life, particularly endangered Asian elephants, but tourist infrastructure is relatively poor in the region.
More than 10 million domestic and 290,000 foreign tourists visited Xishuangbanna in 2011, contributing more than 10 billion yuan (USD 1.57 billion) to the local government's tourism revenue, said Yonghe.
