The Three Gorges Dam travel area received 1.43 million tourists in 2006, which was an increase of 35% compared with that of the previous year.

A representative from the Three Gorges Travel Development Company introduced that the dam area itself received 1.18 million tourists, which was 27% more than that of the previous year, and 950,000 of them were Chinese domestic visitors, and 230,000 were inbound foreign tourists, which was 19% and 77%, respectively, over that of 2005. The Jiuwan Brook and Sixi Brook rafting and scenic spot which belongs to the dam travel area received 250,000 tourists, which doubled that of the previous year.

The dramatic increase was due to the completion of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, which helped activate the market, and the offering of more travel products.

The Three Gorges Travel Development Company estimates that visitors will increase each year at a 30% rate.