Shanghai Disneyland is one of the first official trial sites in China for the country’s new ‘smart tourism’ initiative.
The Disney park is one of 24 tourist attractions across mainland China, including the Museum of the Chinese Communist Party, to take part in the project.
Via South China Morning Post, the initiative was launched in March this year by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, when the government department started accepting applications from any interested pilot sites.
Participating attractions have been tasked with developing interactive experiences using advanced technologies such as 5G, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI).
The 24 trial sites will receive guidance and support from the ministry in areas including company development, talent training and publicity.
In April, China’s tourism ministry and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said the country aims to finish building the 5G network infrastructure at all tourist attractions by 2025.
The industry and IT ministry said operators should use 5G for services such as safety, autonomous vehicles, and ultra-high-definition video surveillance.
This year, domestic tourism in China is expected to return to 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, the China Tourism Academy, a research institution under the tourism ministry, said last month.
Experiences using 5G, VR, AR and AI
Jointly operated by Disney’s theme parks division and the Shanghai Shendi Group, Shanghai Disneyland opened to the public in June 2016. The park is located in Pudong and is part of Shanghai Disney Resort.
Shanghai Disneyland is expanding to offer an immersive Zootopia land, its eighth themed area and the first Zootopia zone at a Disney park.
“Since we announced the development of our new Zootopia-themed land earlier this year we have been overwhelmed by the excitement and anticipation expressed by fans from across China and around the world,” Joe Schott, president and general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort, said in 2019.
Last year, Shanghai Disneyland launched an official flagship store on Tmall, offering the resort’s first online shopping destination.
