Hangzhou embraces tourist boom in 2018

Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, welcomed a record high of 184 million tourists from at home and abroad last year, up 13 percent year on year, according to a conference held on Jan 18.

The boom generated total tourism revenue of 358.9 billion yuan ($52.87 billion), a year-on-year increase of 18 percent.

The statistics reveals that Shanghai, Wenzhou and Taizhou in Zhejiang province were among the top three domestic source cities, whilst Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas countries including the United States, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia had the largest amount of visitors visiting the city.

Meanwhile, the Yangtze River metropolis also reaped benefits brought by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with tourists from countries involved in the BRI including Singapore, Philippines, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia increasingly displaying an interest in Hangzhou.

In terms of the most-searched for tourist destinations of Hangzhou on Google worldwide, attractions such as West Lake, Qiandao Lake and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal were among the popular.

The burgeoning tourist market in Hangzhou can also be attributed to the launch of the new railway route linking Hangzhou and Huangshan city in Anhui province, as well as numerous major international sports events being held in the city, including the 2018 Hangzhou marathon and the 14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), which attracted over 1,000 athletes from 178 countries and regions across the world to participate.