Editor's note: The recovery of tourism has become a driving force for China's economy. Tourism bureaus across China are promoting local attractions and employing innovative means to entice visitors. These means include distinctive dressing-up, traditional dances and delicious cuisine especially in the Spring Festival holiday. Four experts share their views on the issue with China Daily.

China offers peace of mind to foreign tourists

By Mario Cavolo

It is true that China's foreign tourist arrivals have declined substantially, mainly because of the impact of the three pandemic years and geopolitical issues. So, naturally, China wants to attract foreign visitors back.

But why should foreign tourists flock once again to China?

China's tourist spots are as attractive as any others in the Asia-Pacific region. When tourists from other countries think of "heading East", they might think of destinations in Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Yet most of them do not realize that China has more world-class, stunning natural landscapes and urban destinations than those countries, and those are easily accessible and offer equally fascinating histories to explore.

But how appealing is China today?

China has rolled out a 15-day visa-free entry policy for citizens of seven European countries and Malaysia. The government has made it even easier for citizens of many countries to visit China by removing the requirement of having hotel reservations before arriving in China.

China is also rolling out more streamlined, simplified information in English and other languages along with the improved visa application policies.

What about peace of mind during your holiday?

Easy, inexpensive access to healthcare services is a major plus for tourists visiting China, particularly for those visiting major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Expats living in China know that in hospitals across the country, services such as blood tests, X-rays, CT-scans and ultrasound scans are remarkably inexpensive, professional and fast. Tourists can also be assured of getting English-speaking doctors and international departments in hospitals in major cities.

Healthcare services are only one example of how tourists, in case of emergencies, can save a huge chunk of their travel budget. Most Western economies have experienced massive inflation, up to 30 percent, which has resulted in higher tariffs for hotel rooms and higher shopping expenses. But China has been almost free of such inflation.

For example, a world class zoo like the San Diego Zoo in California offers a wonderful experience but its costs $70 per person. A family visit to the zoos in Shanghai, Hangzhou and many other Chinese cities, on the other hand, costs less than $5 per person and offers that same wonderful experience to visitors — a stroll through lush gardens, super cool animal habitats and entertainment facilities, for example.

The rich experience of visiting ancient cities such as Xi'an of Shaanxi province to see the Terracotta Warriors cannot be gained by visiting the historical sites in other countries. Plus, tourists visiting China can stay in five-star hotels for about one-third of the cost they pay in places like Singapore and Tokyo.

If you prefer exotic tropical destinations, look no further than Hainan province's gorgeous beaches and the charming Xiamen Island in Fujian province where a stay at a luxury international five-star hotel will cost you about $100 per night rather than $300, and an affordable excursion into the lush sub-tropical countryside to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Tulou ancient villages.

Can you imagine countries like the United States, France or Italy having 40,000 kilometers of high-speed railway connecting their cities and transporting you to a city 150 km away for just $10? That is the sort of transportation service available in China. The high-speed railway is not only inexpensive but also connected to urban subway lines and airports. Even the urban taxi fleets will save you a fortune with the average taxi or Didi car-hailing ride costing between $3 and $10.

In fact, medical tourism is an extremely attractive option in China. Foreign tourists, especially Americans with friends or colleagues living in China should seriously consider setting aside two-three days to arrange for a comprehensive full body medical checkup because it costs between $200 and $500. For many Americans, that's a genuine bargain.

Another, and a big, attraction for foreign tourists is China's diverse cuisine. Available in virtually every city, the cuisines of different regions will simply blow you away, leaving you with a mysterious but satisfactory smile on your lips. Food in China is simply a different experience, and you can indulge yourself, in most restaurants, for no more than $10.

More important, China is the safest travel destination in the world. On top of that, the Chinese people are amiable and altruistic in nature, ready to help foreigners. Peace of mind plays a big role in making a holiday enjoyable, and China offers peace of mind in abundance.

Cultural, tourism integration via museum craze

By Hui Ming

Culture is the soul of tourism. Drawing on the successful experiences of the countries and cities that attract the highest number of tourists, tapping into various cultural resources such as museums, industrial and intangible cultural heritages, theater performances, and more to attract more visitors is an important way of upgrading China's cultural tourism industry.

Thanks to mobile internet and digital cultural technology, the integration of the culture and tourism industries has been progressing at a fast pace.

China has more than 5,000 cultural relic protection and exhibition institutions, with about 760,000 immovable cultural relics nationwide and 108 million movable cultural relics in national museums.

Protecting these cultural relics is an extremely arduous task. And since the strict security needed to protect these relics prevents many from viewing them, China's cultural relic protection departments have built digital museums which have 3D digital archiving and cloud exhibitions, allowing not only people to admire them but also developing a new mode of cultural heritage dissemination. This has enabled the preservation of cultural relics and heritage.

The digitalization of cultural resources and the construction of digital museums facilitate the creative transformation of traditional Chinese culture and development of the tourism and digital cultural industries.

A large number of digital presentation projects of cultural relics have been developed, such as the "Digital Palace Museum" and "Digital Hall of Treasures" by the Palace Museum (Forbidden City), the "Digital Dunhuang" and "Digital Cave of Scriptures" by the Dunhuang Academy, "Cloud Tour of the Great Wall" jointly developed by Tencent and other institutions, the "Tang Dynasty Palace Night Banquet" and the stunning underwater dance "Prayer" presented by the Henan Museum, as well as the "Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang" digital cultural spectrum course launched by the Shaanxi History Museum.

These projects have greatly stimulated people's love and interest in China's historical and cultural heritage. Museums across the country are using digital technology to exhibit various cultural relics and heritage online, arranging for professionals to conduct museum tours through livestreaming, providing virtual immersive museum experiences.

The implementation of targeted policies has increased the public's interest in museums. The museum craze has five prominent manifestations. First, the public's enthusiasm for visiting museums has reached an unprecedented level, with rapidly increasing visits.

According to National Bureau of Statistics data, from 2012 to 2019, the number of museum visitors nationwide increased from about 560 million to 1.2 billion, with an average annual growth of 79.74 million. After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2023 museum visits in China saw an explosive growth. Last year, the National Museum alone recorded 6.76 million visitors, up 314 percent year-on-year.

Second, the internet has become a main source of museum communication. According to the "2023 Museum Data Report" of Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), in 2023, the total number of museum-related video views on Douyin alone reached about 51.3 billion, equivalent to 66 times the annual number of visitors to museums nationwide.

Third, themed TV programs on cultural relics and museums continue to be popular. They innovatively use different methods to enhance the audience's perception and depth of understanding of China's culture.

Fourth, museum cultural and creative products and intangible cultural heritage products continue to sell well, and continue to attract visitors to museums and boost the sales of cultural and creative products.

And fifth, museums have helped young students to study, better understand history, learn about cultural dissemination, and enhance their aesthetic knowledge.

The museum craze in China is the result of various factors, including the overall improvement in the level of museum services and people's quest for a better life. But the core factor that has ignited the museum craze is undoubtedly the arrival of the digital culture era.

Digital technology has transformed the existence of museums, allowing traditional museums, which were previously confined to physical spaces, to have digital counterparts online.

The integration of culture and tourism has thus entered a new digital stage, with an unprecedented increase in its depth and breadth.

Behind the museum craze is also the significant enhancement of the historical and cultural confidence of the Chinese nation. The digital integration of culture and tourism continues to create new aesthetic forms of modern Chinese civilization, consolidating the common consciousness of the Chinese nation among the people and enhancing the public's sense of cultural attainment and happiness.

The status of digital museums will be further elevated in the national digital culture strategy. And the integration of culture and tourism led by digital culture will propel China toward a new height of digital civilization.

Publicity and service key to attracting more visitors

By Jiang Yiyi/Wang Shifeng

The term "Erbin", a nickname of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, known for its ice and snow festival, has gained popularity across China. Many tourism officials are using techniques such as "topic flooding", "local-style rap", "directors' speeches" and the "star effect" to promote cultural tourism, leaving netizens exclaiming in amusement. Shifting from online antics to offline engagement, tourism authorities in other provinces also compete for tourists.

The essence of this "fancy rat-race" lies in the fact that various regional cultural tourism initiatives are targeted at the Spring Festival tourist boom, using hype to attract tourists and boost the local economies. But relying solely on publicity and extravagant tactics is not enough to attract more tourists. With the extended Spring Festival this year, the key lies in converting the Spring Festival "tourist traffic" into "long-term tourist traffic" by providing quality services. So cities and tourist spots should focus on three factors to attract more tourists.

As cultural tourism gains popularity, tourist spots and the places they are located in must have the capacity to accommodate the increasing influx of tourists. First, they need to improve tourism infrastructure and tourism services through rational planning and establishing efficient tourism information centers, building better roads to scenic spots and tourist service platforms, and installing proper traffic signs.

Second, they should provide related supporting services to enhance tourists' experience. For that, the tourist spots and cities need to further develop tourist attractions, providing comfortable and safe parking lots, restrooms, rest areas, dining services and other supporting facilities.

For example, Harbin has done that by reducing the waiting time for tourists, Harbin's Ice and Snow World has introduced a 3D-composite ice bar, ice hot-pot, and ice house experience hall, which are innovative facilities that both increase consumption and enhance tourists' experience. Similarly, the Beidahu Ski Resort in Jilin province has expanded its ski trails from 27 to 64, increasing the area from 126 hectares to 239 hectares, with the aim of becoming the first skiing resort in China to accommodate more than 1 million visitors.

Quality tourism service is key to propelling the high-quality development of the tourism industry. In this context, it is necessary to first improve the tourism service quality. Tourist attractions, star-rated hotels, travel agencies, online travel agencies, and homestay providers should endeavor to provide overall better tourism services.

For instance, Harbin's promotion has been successful because of not only its ice and snow show but also its warm and thoughtful services, evident in its promotion of local specialty, frozen pears, and the laying of slipping-resistant carpets in underground passages on Central Street, and building of warm rest stops in collaboration with Haier, which show its concern for the safety and well-being of tourists.

Besides, local government departments should create a good environment for tourists. For example, following the success of Zibo's barbecue promotion, multiple departments of the city in Shandong province issued price limits, prohibiting barbecue outlets and hotels from hiking their prices and room tariffs, and launched special barbecue shuttle buses, showing their concern for tourists.

Yet there is also a need to make tourists better aware of the services available. As front-line workers in the reception industry, the words and actions of tour guides reflect the nature of a travel agency, and influence tourists' ideas and evaluations about its service quality. Travel agencies should therefore provide proper training to their staff, so the latter can provide better, professional services to tourists, and be courteous toward their clients.

At present, many regional cultural tourism departments and travel agencies use the internet to attract potential tourists' attention. But if they believe they can replicate the success of Harbin by blindly following its promotional methods, they are wrong. They should, instead, tap into their unique resources, highlight their cultural characteristics, tell authentic local cultural tourism stories to enhance tourists' experience and thus attract more tourists.

Also, the local tourism departments and travel agencies should identify their advantageous tourism resources, focus on their unique selling points and develop branded cultural tourism products to draw more visitors.

For instance, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, has the first immersive Tang Dynasty (618-907) market town themed district in China, the Longest Day in Chang'an, which covers different aspects of the Tang Dynasty's cuisine, handicrafts, cultural banquets and immersive performances, providing tourists with a unique chance of "traveling through the Tang Dynasty in a day".

It is also important to tell compelling local cultural stories. While cultural tourism bureaus generally engage in competition based on the number of promotional videos and other forms of promotional material they release, they often lack in depth knowledge and fail to promote characteristic local cultural products. They should therefore focus on promoting local cuisine, local natural resources, local culture and local personalities, and tell their stories in a way that resonates with tourists, so as to attract more visitors.