A new Amari luxury beach resort operated by ONYX Hospitality Group (Thailand) is slated to open in Huidong in 2016, according to a skew of reports out yesterday.

Local governments in the Pearl River Delta region are increasingly pushing for new tourism ventures in an attempt to attract foreign spending. Notable tourist destinations in the province at large already include Danxia Mountain, Yuexiu Hill (Guangzhou), Star Lake and the Seven Star Crags, Dinghu Mountain, and Zhongshan Sun Wen Memorial Park for Sun Yat-sen.

“Located just east of Huizhou, in the PRD region of southern China, Amari Huidong will be located in the Xun Liao Bay Resort Area, which occupies a 1.2 kilometre stretch of coastline, including a 500-metre beach. The resort will feature 150 rooms, two restaurants, lobby and poolside bars, meeting rooms and a spa,” Travel Daily Asia said in a report yesterday.

The popular travel website Trip Advisor already lists the Sheraton Dameisha Resort in Shenzhen, the Pullman Dongguan Forum in Dongguan, and the Sheraton Resort Jinhaiwan in Huizhou as the top three resorts in Guangdong.

The Nanfang reported yesterday that Huizhou was ranked the most beautiful city in the Mainland by a Hong Kong-based NGO. Increased attention on the region, including outside key locations such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, will likely result in higher visitor numbers in coming years, and an expected tourism boom is already being seen as a golden opportunity for investment.

The province already accounts for 12 percent of the PRC’s national economic output, and Guangdong’s GDP was US$815.53 billion in 2011 (equal to the Netherlands in Europe). Guangdong is considered a major economic hub of China thanks largely to Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

Earlier this month, Guangzhou Tourism Bureau announced 72-hour visa-free transit, making it the third major city in China — after Beijing and Shanghai — to welcome the move, further signs of the region’s development into a “tourist friendly” destination.

Photo credit: ONYX Hospitality Group