As the city with the largest ocean area, the most islands, and the longest coastline in the Pearl River Delta, its unique environmental advantages determine the pillar industry position of tourism in the economic and social development of Zhuhai.
Since the establishment of an economic special zone and the implementation of relaxed policies in Zhuhai by the central government in 1980, Zhuhai has vigorously developed its tourism industry based on its own characteristics. In just a few years, the tourism industry has grown from scratch and from small to large. Zhuhai regards "building a tourist area that attracts Hong Kong and Macao guests" as one of the three major positioning of the city, investing heavily in the construction of couple's roads, and introducing foreign investment to cooperate in the construction of Zhuhai resorts; In the same year, we partnered with companies led by Huo Yingdong and He Xian to invest 7.16 million US dollars in the construction of Zhuhai Hotel, the establishment of Wanshan Management Zone, and the development of island tourism industry. Subsequently, we also developed a number of themed scenic spots such as Yuanming New Park, Amazon, and Haiquan Bay Resort. The stone sculpture of a fisherman in Zhuhai was completed in 1982, located on the banks of Xianglu Bay. It is 8.7 meters high and weighs 10 tons, becoming a symbol of Zhuhai city. In 1984, Zhuhai planned to transform and proposed a new policy of building a "coastal industrial and commercial city, with industry as the main focus, and also engaged in agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, tourism, and commerce for comprehensive development". For the first time, tourism was included in the city's development positioning. In 1991, it became the only city to be selected as one of the "Top 40 National Tourist Attractions" for its overall urban landscape.
The opening of Jinwan Airport in 1995 greatly improved the transportation convenience of Zhuhai and brought more tourists to the city. In 2002, Zhuhai created the brand image of "Romantic City", further enhancing its attractiveness in the hearts of domestic and foreign tourists. In 2008, Su Zhigang, the founder of Chimelong Group, decided to build a world-class marine animal theme park on Hengqin Island, which was still full of mudflat at that time. In March 2014, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom opened in Zhuhai. In the year of opening, it received 8 million tourists in total, driving Zhuhai's GDP growth rate to jump to the first in the Pearl River Delta in 2014, Zhuhai's hotel opening rate to increase by 87%, and Zhuhai's airport passenger flow to increase by 41.5%. Now Zhuhai Chimelong has grown into an ocean themed resort that integrates theme parks, luxury hotels, business exhibitions, tourism shopping, sports and leisure, rare polar and marine animals, top-notch amusement equipment, and novel large-scale performances. After years of development and accumulation, the comprehensive tourism development of Zhuhai has been recognized by all parties, and the tourism image of "Romantic City, Zhuhai, China" has deeply penetrated people's hearts. At the same time, it has also won multiple highly valuable "awards".
In 2016, it was identified by the National Tourism Administration as one of the first batch of cities to create a "National Comprehensive Tourism Demonstration Zone", proposing the construction plan of "Park City", vigorously promoting urban greening and park construction, and forming a park network of "park in the city, city in the park, and integration of city and park". In August 2017, it was awarded the title of one of only ten "China Leisure Tourism Demonstration Cities" by the National Tourism Administration. In 2019, the "Hengqin International Leisure Tourism Island Construction Plan" was released. Hengqin supports the construction of the "World Tourism and Leisure Center" in Macau, jointly develops "one-stop multi station" tourism products with Macau, and researches the creation of a "one river, two banks" leisure tourism area. As of the end of 2020, 733 parks of various types have been built in Zhuhai, providing rich leisure and entertainment venues for citizens and tourists.