Port city in top 10 destinations for overseas visitors

Foreign tourists celebrate the Spring Festival with Tianjin locals. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Tianjin, China's northern port city, has become one of the top 10 holiday destinations for international tourists along with Shanghai and Beijing, according to a report by people.cn and ly.com that studied travel trends during the 2016 May Day Holiday.

Last year, 174 million travelers visited Tianjin from all over the world, up 11.5 percent from 2014. Of these, 3.26 million visitors came from abroad. Total tourism income rose 12.1 percent to 279.4 billion yuan ($42.5 billion) in 2015.

According to the Tourism Administration of Tianjin, the city's 39 scenic spots received 2.51 million visitors during this year's May Day holiday. That was an increase of 10.6 percent from the same period of last year, and income rose 14.36 percent to 1.05 billion yuan.

The report also showed that Seoul, Jeju and Busan in South Korea; Phuket, Thailand; Tokyo, Japan; and Seattle in the United States were the most favored destinations for tourists from Tianjin.

Traveling to Japan and South Korea by ship was increasingly popular around the May Day holiday.

The Tianjin International Cruise Home Port is the largest port for cruise ships in North China. It accommodated 96 international cruise ships and served 430,000 passengers last year.

This year, ships from Royal Caribbean International, Costa Cruises and other large cruise ship operators will visit Tianjin.

It is predicted that Tianjin will receive more than 100 cruise ship visits for the first time this year.

According to the Tianjin International Cruise Home Port, the size of the ships visiting is also increasing. Both Quantum of the Seas, which began to use Tianjin as its home port last year, and Ovation of the Seas, which will make its maiden trip from Tianjin in June, are among Asia's largest and latest luxury cruise ships.

A folk artist work on clay figures, a famous folk art in Tianjin. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Liu Zinan, president for Royal Caribbean International's North Asia-Pacific and China, said: " Ovation of the Seas was delivered to the operator on April 8. Departing from Southampton, Britain, it will berth in Tianjin after a 53-day voyage."

This year, Tianjin plans to keep boosting domestic travel by improving its travel services, expanding outbound tours to Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, and developing long-haul destinations like Europe and the US, according to the Tourism Administration of Tianjin.

It said the internet and new media would be used to boost tourism by improving the image and brand of the city.

The move aims to promote Tianjin in many ways, through such platforms as a 10-language official website for local tourism, mobile apps, WeChat, Weibo, Facebook and Twitter.

"We are trying to brand the city as a tasteful place where you can also have fun," said Yin Dayong, deputy chief of the administration.

Tianjin expects to welcome 187 million visitors this year, up 8 percent from 2015.

Total tourism revenue is predicted to reach 306.8 billion yuan, up 10 percent, according to Yin.

"The Summer Davos 2016 will be held in Tianjin, and we need to take this great opportunity to introduce Tianjin to the world," Yin said.

During the forum, the tourism administration will prepare five tour routes for guests and visitors, including a night trip on the Haihe River, the mother river of Tianjin.

"The buildings along the river are treasures of history, attracting millions of tourists from all around the world," Yin said.

"Tianjin is a place where Eastern and Western cultures meet. I believe that Tianjin's unique cosmopolitan culture will make more and more people fall in love with it."