Qingdao in the January-November period saw an influx of 567,100 tourists via its airport, a year-on-year surge of 44.99%. These numbers echo the fact that Qingdao now regularly appears on ranking lists released by top online travel agencies such as “Top 10 Destinations for Inbound Tourism” and “10 Most Popular Chinese Cities in the Opinion of Foreign Friends”, and the coastal city becomes increasingly charming on the international arena.

“The city boasts not only mountains and seas, but also refreshing beer, delicious food and hospitable residents.” Volker, a German blogger, posted online the reasons why the city finds favor among so many foreigners. As “going to Qingdao” becomes a sought-after fashion statement, “shopping in Qingdao” is increasingly popular among foreigners. Data shows that a monthly average of nearly 34,000 foreigners use mobile payment services, surging 109% from the previous year, and the number and amount of transactions soared by 189% and 152% year on year, respectively. The amount of sales across the city, which was contributed by foreign passengers and eligible for tax refunding upon departure, neared RMB 130 mln, up 56.43% from the year before. RMB 6.5965 mln worth of taxes were refunded upon departure, surging 67.79% year on year.

In response to a continuous stream of foreign tourists, Qingdao works hard on payment, language and traffic services, and continues to better solve the “last-kilometer” problem for inbound tourism in a bid to deliver the international-class travel experiences to tourists.  (Ma Xiaoting)

Foreign tourists are taking photos in the Qingdao Zhanqiao Pier. By Wang Lei