During China’s Labor Day holiday, the “holiday economy” in Qingdao continued to boom and gained momentum as evidenced by a group of data. According to the big data on traveling on the first day of the Labour Day holiday released by Baidu Maps, the Seaside Scenery Zone of Qingdao topped the ranking list of well sought-after tourist attractions. As indicated in the 2024 Labor Day Holiday Tourism Summary by China’s online travel service C-trip, in the holiday period, the number of ticket bookings for flights to Qingdao saw a year-on-year increase of 21%, and the number of orders for inbound tourism surged by 113% year-on-year. According to Tujia Homestay data, Qingdao ranked among the top ten popular tourist destinations in China.

On the first day of the holiday, the well sought-after Zhanqiao Pier became a viral sensation on social media and ranked among the most preferred tourist attraction. As a result, the Seaside Scenery Zone of Qingdao together with other famous tourist attractions in China such as the West Lake Scenic Spot and the Nanjing Confucius Temple-Qinhuai River Scenic Belt were included among the most popular tourist destinations selected by Baidu Maps. Citizens and tourists can easily access seaside attractions by bus, metro or boat, as Qingdao is a city where sea, land and metro transportation systems coexist. The Olympic Sailing Center, the Xiaomai Island Park, the Old Stone Man Bathing Beach and the Golden Beach Bathing Beach along the seaside were all packed with people in the holiday.

With a focus on distinctive needs of young people and immersive experience, a wide array of activities such as concerts, live-action dramas, music dramas, flash mob events and famous painting “real shows” were launched in key scenic spots or tourist attractions including the historical urban area, the Mangrove Resort World, Mingyue Shanhaijian and the SCO Pearl International Expo Center, further enhancing cultural ties between tourists and the city, and finding enormous favor with many young audiences.  (Ma Xiaoting)

Zhanqiao Pier, a must-go tourist attraction in Qingdao, welcomed a continuous stream of visitors in the just-concluded Labor Day holiday. By Wang Lei