BEIJING, July 3 -- Chinese property and entertainment giant Dalian Wanda Group led a consortium of investors to inject more than 6 billion yuan (967.2 million U.S. dollars) into LY.com, the biggest single investment ever in a Chinese online tourism firm, they announced Friday.

Wanda offered 3.58 billion yuan in total investment, with the rest coming from Tencent Industry Win-Win Fund, CITIC Capital and other institutions.

"It's Wanda's first investment in an online tourism company and is in line with the group's goal of transformation based on the strategy of Internet Plus," Wang Jianlin, founder and president of Wanda, said at the investment agreement ceremony.

While real estate contributes to the bulk of Wanda's revenue, the group is seeking more growth from businesses in culture, tourism and e-commerce as rapid expansion in China's property sector is coming to an end.

Wanda has at least 12 "super-large cultural tourism programs" in operation or under construction, and plans to invest in another eight within five years, Wang said.

The programs are expected to attract around 200 million visitors in total in 2020, when Wanda will become the world's largest tourism company, he predicted.

Wanda already owns one of China's biggest tourism agencies and several luxury hotels and resorts.

Beijing Wanda Tourism Investment Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Wanda Group, saw revenues reaching 7.5 billion yuan in 2014, according to information on Wanda's official website.

By investing in LY.com, Wanda will integrate its offline resources with the online platform, Wang said.

LY.com is an emerging online tourism company established in 2004 and a leading provider of booking services for entrance tickets of tourist attractions.

The company drew about 30 million customers in 2014, doubling from a year earlier.