THOUGH suffering from the epidemic outbreak, the nation’s tourism industry has made use of more online resources to meet travel demands from the public while helping curb the spread of the novel coronavirus pneumonia. The Beijing Zoo has been updating the daily lives of its animals on Chinese social media platforms since Feb. 8, uploading articles, videos and pictures of the animals being trained and fed. The zoo has been closed to the public because of the epidemic outbreak since Jan. 24. So far, the “online zoo” has featured black muntjacs and giant pandas. It will be open every other day and will continue to operate after the zoo reopens to the public, according to deputy curator Zhang Chenglin. Meanwhile, quanjingke.com, a Beijing-based company focusing on tourism using virtual reality, released a guidebook on its WeChat account named “Beautiful China” in late January. About 1,000 domestic attractions, including the Summer Palace in Beijing, Yellow Mountain in Anhui Province and Zhangjiajie Tianmenshan National Forest Park in Hunan Province, can be enjoyed free via VR pictures and presentations. Zhang Ning, a 26-year-old from Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, had planned to travel to Guilin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region with her parents during the Spring Festival vacation. “But the epidemic ruined the plan,” she said. “Online tourism is quite a good idea. At least it’s a good way to kill time.” Dai Bin, president of China Tourism Academy, said in a Feb. 6 conferece that the number of travelers who intended to visit their relatives decreased by over 76 percent because of the virus. “But I remain optimistic about the future,” he said. “As long as people have a desire for travel and we have supportive policies, we will win the battle against the virus and improve tourism.” (China Daily) | 