Tourism began in Chengdu in the early 1980s. During the period of the eighth Five-Year-Plan, the city committee and municipal government have listed tourism as one of the development strategies of the city. In 1998, they promulgated the "decision on accelerating the development of tourism," and devised the "plan of developing tourism in Chengdu", which put tourism as a pillar industry of governmental support. Up to now, the development of tourism has been coordinated, integrating food, accommodation, sightseeing, shopping and entertainment, and service functions are comprehensive and facilities complete.
The city now has 57 tourist hotels, of which 53 are star rated hotels with a total of 20,000 beds, 5 designated restaurants; 142 travel agencies including 23 international ones; 11 tourist bus companies and designated bus companies, 108 taxi companies, 3 tourist airlines which offer charter services, 3 special tourist trains and one tourist shipping company. There are five shopping streets, 12 designated commercial centers for tourist shopping, 18 designated tourist restaurants, more than 10 tourist recreational centers, 14 tourist safety and relief centers and 8 tourist consultation and supervision institutions.
During the seventh and eighth Five-year-plan period (1980-1990), Chengdu received a total of 1.28 million overseas tourists, earning $259 million and 103 million domestic tourists, with an income of 4.669 billion yuan. In the first three years of the ninth Five-year-plan, it received 491,100 overseas tourists, creating $185 million in profits and 60.5 million domestic tourists, earning 17.854 billion yuan. Before the eighth Five-year-plan, tourism accounted for no more than 3 percent of the city's GDP but it rose to 6 percent in 1996, 6.5 percent in 1997 and 6.88 percent in 1998. Tourism has become a new economic growth point of the city. In 1998, Chengdu and Dujiang Dam city under its jurisdiction have been listed among the first group of "Top Tourist Cities of China."