We have recently learned that inbound tourism in Fuzhou made a solid breakthrough in 2025, the number of inbound tourists surged more than 30%, and tourist consumption soared over 50% year on year according to data from Ctrip, an online travel agency. Fuzhou was included among top 100 global tourist destinations in both 2025 and 2026 Ctrip word-of-mouth travel rankings.

Favorable policies and easing travel formalities have paved a foundation for growth. Fuzhou promulgated in June 2025 several measures for promoting inbound tourism to motivate all sectors of society to join hands to expand the tourist market. Fuzhou Changle International Airport in 2025 saw more than 1.7 million exits and entries, a year-on-year surge of 17.1%. Measures such as the 24-hour visa-free transit policy and opening the airport express were taken to help tourists to optimize their travel itineraries. Fuzhou worked out multilingual signs and tourist guidelines, and launched short-time routes for transit passengers to deliver more convenience and comfortable experience.

Featured consumption scenarios were put up to appeal to inbound tourists. Among the first batch of China’s new projects, the duty-free shop that opened in Fuzhou in December 2025 has swiftly become a sensational site for “shopping in Fuzhou” thanks to an array of international brands, distinctive cultural and creative products and thoughtful services featuring “placing orders in the shop, taking delivery of commodities in the airport”.

New means of international communication have helped make the beauty of Fuzhou more widely known. Paul, an American vlogger, posted his trip in Fuzhou on social media, inviting more than 100,000 likes. Fuzhou launched the first overseas live-streaming campaign on culture and tourism in Thailand on January 9, 2026, aimed at making the voice of Fuzhou better heard across the globe.

According to an official in the Fuzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Fuzhou will continue to prioritize improving inbound tourist experience, take further steps to build a convenient, friendly and high-quality environment and facilitate high-quality development of inbound tourism in Fuzhou by introducing a broader range of products, upgrading multilingual services, stepping up international publicity and improving cross-departmental synergy. (Yan Xiao)