Libo, part of Qiannan Buyei and Miao autonomous prefecture, was put on the tourist map when it was listed as part of the South China karst world heritage site in June 2007. [Photo by Yang Feiyue/China Daily]

Flights connecting Libo with Guiyang, Nanning and Changsha are available now, and direct flights to Guangzhou, Tianjin and Wuhan are to be launched, says Yin. And in three to five years, the Guiyang-Nanning high-speed rail is due to stop in Libo.

Locals residents are already benefiting from the growing number of tourists.

Tapping the potential

Xie Renli could only just make ends meet for her family when she was running a small clothes business from home.

But she saw the potential of local tourism back in 2005, and decided she would like to get in on the action.

"I saw a great number of tourists come here, and some restaurants and hotels were doing a brisk business," she recalls. "I was itching to start my own business, but I didn't have any money".