After the release of Black Myth: Wukong, tourists became interested in the attractions of China
Many locations in Black Myth: Wukong mirror real-world places, mostly from Shanxi Province in northern China. According to the publication South China Morning Post (SCMP), this province usually receives little attention from tourists, but it is currently experiencing a tourism boom.
Black Myth: Wukong
According to the Chinese platform Meituan, on the day Black Myth: Wukong was released, the number of search queries about local attractions rose by 156% compared to the previous year. People most frequently sought information about the Yungang Grottoes, the Shakyamuni Pagoda, and the Crane Tower. All these locations appear in the game.
The tourism service Tuniu calculated that the number of tourists in Shanxi increased by 50% in August compared to July, and hotel bookings doubled.
Sun Jiajun, the head of tourism development in Yingxian County, confirmed to SCMP the rise in tourist activity. He added that most visitors to the Shakyamuni Pagoda in the last week learned about it from Black Myth: Wukong.
Tourism increased beyond Shanxi Province as well. For instance, Yin Zhenxing, the director of the Jade Buddha Temple Sculpture Museum in Shanghai, told Yicai that over the past six months, a record 50,000 people visited the museum thanks to the temple's appearance in the game's trailers. Forty percent of them had never heard of the place before Black Myth: Wukong.
