Dongqian Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in Zhejiang Province. It has set development goals to become an “ecological tourism resort, a renowned leisure and vacation base in the Yangtze River Delta, an important international conference hub in East China, and a high-end global headquarters base.” These goals are now beginning to take shape. Recently, the Ningbo Municipal Tourism Development Commission and the Dongqian Lake Tourist Resort Management Committee jointly held the Ningbo Dongqian Lake Incentive Travel Shanghai Special Promotion Event at the China Financial Information Center.
Dongqian Lake boasts abundant incentive travel resources, which represent a key strength for Ningbo in developing this sector. Shanghai is both a highly attractive destination for incentive travel both domestically and internationally, as well as a market with strong demand for such services. “Integrating into the greater Shanghai metropolis and advancing Ningbo’s internationalization” is a crucial guiding principle for Ningbo’s incentive travel industry development.
Shanghai is Dongqian Lake’s largest source of tourists outside Zhejiang Province and a key focus area for its tourism marketing and promotion efforts. Through collaboration between Shanghai and Ningbo and joint promotion of incentive travel, Dongqian Lake—this new landmark for incentive travel in East China—is sure to shine brightly.
Transportation between Dongqian Lake and Shanghai is convenient. The unique natural and cultural resources of Dongqian Lake offer a striking contrast to Shanghai’s urban tourism offerings, and the two locations are highly complementary in terms of incentive travel product development and service provision.
Both Dongqian Lake and Shanghai lie within the 3-hour economic circle of the Yangtze River Delta. Dongqian Lake is 230 kilometers from downtown Shanghai, just a 2.5-hour drive, with three highway exits nearby. It is less than half an hour from downtown Ningbo and a 30-minute drive from the airport, giving it a prime geographical advantage for establishing multi-channel connections with Shanghai’s incentive travel market. With the growth of the meetings and incentives market and increasingly diverse demands, more traffic and conference flows will radiate from Shanghai to surrounding cities, and Dongqian Lake will be one of the key destinations.
Dongqian Lake is rich in tourism resources and is gradually winning the favor of more visitors. In 2015, it became one of the first 17 national-level tourist resorts and has since been honored with titles such as “International Best Leisure Tourism Destination,” “China’s Top Ten Charming Leisure Tourism Lakes,” “China’s Most Scenic Self-Drive Destination,” and “Top Ten Most Popular Ningbo Attractions Among Shanghai Residents.” It serves as a model for the development of lakeside leisure and vacation tourism.
Focused on incentive travel, Dongqian Lake has established a comprehensive incentive travel service system.
Dongqian Lake Travel Agency, a wholly state-owned travel agency under the Dongqian Lake Cultural Tourism Group, provides one-stop ground services for Dongqian Lake. These include airport pick-up and drop-off vehicles with professional drivers, hotel booking, venue and catering reservations, transportation arrangements, and full-service event reception. It also offers planning and execution services for team-building activities, tours, and relaxation programs. The agency can manage everything from proposal creation, venue selection, material design, stage setup, performance resources, to full on-site execution.
In any season, day or night, whether for sports, leisure, wellness, small gatherings, family trips, or business travel, Dongqian Lake offers one-stop packaged travel solutions.
The Dongqian Lake Lohas Fan Card is a personalized service card designed for incentive travel clients. Built using blockchain and big data technologies, it integrates a full matrix of services. It currently supports Lohas crowdfunding, Lohas points, Lohas vouchers, e-commerce, scenic spot access control, smart guides, cycling systems, wireless WiFi, virtual tourism, live streaming, self-guided maps, air quality monitoring, and water environment testing.
Incentive travel is a vital highlight in the future development of Dongqian Lake tourism. The Tourism and Lake Area Administration of the Ningbo Dongqian Lake Tourist Resort and the Ningbo Incentive Travel Promotion Alliance have engaged in comprehensive cooperation. On the basis of extensive exchanges, they established the Dongqian Lake Incentive Travel Promotion Alliance, involving nearly 20 enterprises across the district. This alliance creates a collaborative platform for mid- to high-end hotels, emerging tourism formats, and key scenic areas within the resort, enabling information sharing and resource integration—laying a solid foundation for deep collaboration in incentive travel resources.
At the promotion event, the Tourism and Lake Area Administration of the Ningbo Dongqian Lake Tourist Resort signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Beijing Hui Lianjie Network Technology Co., Ltd. Major hotels in Dongqian Lake also signed cooperation agreements with Shanghai-based incentive travel buyers. Additionally, a lighting ceremony was held to unveil Dongqian Lake as the new “East China Incentive Travel Landmark.”
Dongqian Lake places great emphasis on the development of the incentive travel industry. In the future, it will foster a better industrial environment for incentive travel through measures such as building an integrated platform for connectivity with incentive travel buyers, researching and implementing special policies to accelerate the growth of the incentive travel industry, and strengthening talent and infrastructure support.
Currently, to advance incentive travel, the Dongqian Lake Management Committee has introduced ten detailed policies: encouraging the hosting of international large-scale conferences, incentivizing the attraction of major annual conferences and summits, promoting incentive travel products, attracting more tourists, developing overnight tourism, expanding wellness and recuperation offerings, publicizing Dongqian Lake’s packaged travel products, encouraging local and regional tourism companies to launch dedicated incentive travel routes to Dongqian Lake, supporting the research and production of “Dongqian Lake specialty travel goods,” and designing and packaging locally distinctive products. Each policy comes with concrete rewards, detailed down to individual conferences, rooms, routes, visitors, and products.
In 2018, the Ningbo Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government once again included the development of Dongqian Lake as a key area in constructing Ningbo’s “river-embracing, lake-facing, and coast-oriented” urban spatial layout. It has become a top priority for expanding the city’s space, improving urban functions, and elevating urban quality. Going forward, with the establishment and operation of the Ningbo International Convention and Exhibition Center, Dongqian Lake will further develop its incentive travel market, steadily enhance infrastructure, and boost the brand recognition of being the “New Landmark for Incentive Travel in East China.”