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Credit: Inside the MagicShanghai Disneyland and the Museum of the Chinese Communist Party are both officially teaming up with the People’s Republic of China to be trial sites for “smart tourism,” an effort by China to promote new technological advances.
Twenty-four tourist destinations across China (including the Shanghai Disneyland Resort and the Communist Museum) have been selected by the government to be trial sites for new forms of immersive technology. Per the South China Morning Post, the Chinese government requires that these sites offer “‘hi-tech and interactive’ attractions based on new generation information technologies including 5G, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI).”
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While Disneyland and a Communist Museum may not have much in common (and arguably, may be diametrically opposed), both are part of China’s push to promote tourism within the country.
While Shanghai Disneyland will likely offer similar attractions as its sister Hong Kong Disneyland and the other Disney Parks around the world, the Museum of the Chinese Communist Party will reportedly offer very different features.
One of them is said to be a “Long March immersive experience,” which would presumably allow visitors to feel as though they are part of the historically and culturally significant series of movements by the Red Army that brought Mao Zedong. It is perhaps worth noting that of the nearly 90,000 people who took part in the Long March, less than 10,000 survived.
So, while China seems very interested in supporting and promoting high-tech tourism, it does not seem as though it has much consistency over what kind of experience visitors are seeking. Perhaps Shanghai Disneyland will offer an immersive experience as being the otter that lives in the Magic Kingdom, just to mix things up. Or maybe just Zootopia.
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The Shanghai Disney Resort is the newest of the Disney Parks, having officially opened in 2016. For much of its existence, it has had to deal with the dampening effects of Covid-19 and the severe quarantines imposed by the Chinese government, so it makes a great deal of sense that it would look to be expanding into new and potentially lucrative fields of “smart tourism.”
Would you be interested in Shanghai Disneyland’s “smart tourism?” Let us know your thoughts below!