Residents visit the China Tourism Exposition in Tianjin. [Photo by Wang Xinpeng/People.com.cn]

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integrated card, an innovative product integrating banking and tourism, will now include 200 attractions, according to the China Tourism Exposition in Tianjin.

With the card in hand, tourists may visit tourist attractions, ride public transportation, drive on electronic toll collection (ETC) lanes, and pay for catering or entertainment at discounted prices.

Tourism cooperation among Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei is growing closer and the regional tourism market has huge potential. The three places together welcomed a total of 723 million domestic visitors in 2014, more than 20 percent of the national total. In addition, they welcomed up to 8.6 million international visitors last year, 6.7 percent of the national total. Their foreign exchange earnings from tourism reached $8.13 billion, 14.3 percent of the national total.

The newly released Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Tourism Guideline attracted many residents at the site of the expo. The guideline breaks regional limitations and integrates attractions along suggested routes.

The guideline includes 56 routes featuring weekend family trips, photography enthusiasts’ tours, recreational trips along the seashore, road trips, and tours to ancient townd and villages. Eighteen start from Beijing, 18 start from Tianjin, and 20 start from Hebei.

The guideline also includes attraction introductions, ticket information, and driving routes, which gives detailed advice and tips. In the future, the book will include personal experiences and comments by tourists.

The integrated development in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei has deepened, and their tourism departments have launched cooperative measures and improved efficiency.

Ji county launched an East Beijing Recreational Demonstrative Tourism Project with Beijing’s Pinggu District and Zunhua and Sanhe cities in Hebei. Dongli District in Tianjin has reached agreements with the tourism departments in Changping District of Beijing and Tangshan city in Hebei to promote enterprise cooperation, resource sharing, and tourist transfer.

The integrated routes will provide more options and more economic plans.

The China Tourism Exposition was held by China National Tourism Administration and Tianjin Municipal Government with special support from the United Nation’s World Tourism Organization. A total of 23 countries and regions around the world attended, including the US, Russia, Germany, France, and South Korea. In addition, 29 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions in China attended the exposition.

The expo attracted more than 252,000 visitors, with turnover exceeding 2.8 billion yuan ($439.3 million).