Nyingchi plans to build an international ecotourism zone during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period (2016-2020) to realize a total of six million tourists by 2020 and seven billion yuan in tourism revenue.

According to the plans, Nyingchi will build 10 national-level rural tourism demo villages in the next five years, with more than 20 thousand people involved in the tourism industry, adding 70 thousand jobs with an average of per capita income increase of 10 thousand yuan.

Data has shown that not only has tourism become a major force in developing the economy in Nyingchi, it is also a crucial way for the residents to improve income.

2015 was the first time GDP in Nyingchi has surpassed 10 billion yuan to reach 10.4 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 11.2%, the highest among all cities in Tibet, one-quarter of which came from tourism. There were 3.2 million tourists in Nyingchi in 2015, a 20% increase from 2014. Over five thousand local residents work in tourism, running 219 family inns. Per capita income in the pasturing area surpassed 10 thousand yuan for the first time to reach 10,800 yuan, which is 1600 yuan more than the Tibet average.

As the number of tourists grew, the local government began to focus on improving their ability to accommodate the tourists and make the environment sustainable, various measures were introduced, including ecological protection and improvement of the tourism industry to ensure honest practices.

In the next five years, Nyingchi will strengthen the building of transportation networks via air, rail, highways, and waterways, as well as the building of starred hotels, economy hotels, motels, theme hotels, family inns, and RV parks to diversify the type of accommodations. Last year, fixed investment in Nyingchi reached 16.3 billion yuan. The Lhasa-Nyingchi highway was put in use by the end of 2015, while the Lhasa-Nyingchi railway is also under construction. Renovations of the Lhasa's airport are in full swing.

There are now seven direct flights reaching Nyingchi, with possible new routes added from Xi’an, Shanghai, and Xiamen this year. In addition, Mainling Airport could become an international airport with more flights and routes in the future.