According to the conference on tourism in Qingdao, Qingdao’s tourism revenue saw an increase of 14% in the first half of this year and exceeded 23 billion yuan. The number of domestic tourism and overseas visitors grew by 13% and 60%, respectively, over the same period of last year. At the same time, Qingdao ranked fourteenth in a survey of 50 key cities’ visitors' satisfaction in the first quarter of this year, issued by the National Tourism Administration.

The domestic tourism maintained a steady growth

Through advertising and promoting the idea of “See the Expo, Visit Qingdao,” more and more domestic visitors came to Qingdao. Qingdao received nearly 19 million domestic visitors in the first half of this year, up by 13% from the previous year. Affected by the Expo, the increasing urban competition and the global economic crisis, the growth of overseas visitors witnessed a slight slow-down, while the number of overseas visitors still exceeded 4,600,000.

According to preliminary estimates, in the first half of this year, the total tourism revenue will exceed 23 billion yuan, up 14% over the same period of last year.

A flourishing market in hotels

In the first half of this year, the number of visitors accepted by various scenic spots increased by a relatively large margin compared to last year. The Undersea World theme park received nearly 10,000 tourists per day, reaching a historic high in Qingdao. And the Qingdao Beer Museum hosted 2,500 visitors per day, up 39% over the same period last year.

Other reports have it that the average room price and renting rate of key star-rated hotels have gone up steadily. Shangri-la Hotel, Huiquan Dynasty Hotel, Guodun Hotel and many other star-rated hotels had no vacant rooms for many days, among which the renting rate of Guodun Hotel has been kept at over 90%. The major source of guests is from business and meeting travelers and overseas visitors occupy a large proportion.

By Liu Nengzhou and Audrey