Nearly 100 tourists from Hong Kong arrived at the Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport in Shandong province on Feb 21, marking the city's first inbound tourist group to arrive in the province after the Chinese mainland reopened flights with Hong Kong and Macao on Feb 6.

At the welcome ceremony, local officials from relevant departments gave out promotional tourism materials, cruise tickets for The Best Spring in the World Scenic Area and souvenirs to tourists.

They plan to visit tourist attractions including the Baotu Spring, Daming Lake, the Baihuazhou Historical and Cultural Block, Kuanhouli Commercial Street, the Chaoran Building, Nanfeng Theater and take a cruise.

During the Spring Festival holiday period, the tourism market in Jinan recovered smoothly and the major tourist spots attracted many visitors.

To further boost cultural and tourism consumption, the Jinan bureau of culture and tourism, the Jinan development and reform commission and the Jinan finance bureau jointly launched 10 measures to improve the city's tourism capacity, conditions and scenarios thanks to the newly released 91-million-yuan ($13.25 million) stimulus plan.

Ren Xiaorui, deputy director of the Jinan bureau of culture and tourism, said Jinan plans to accelerate the recovery and development of the inbound tourism market, introduce a new round of incentive policies and create more high-quality tourist attractions that meet the needs of inbound tourists. The city intends to also cooperate with overseas travel operators and wholesalers to attract tourists and expand the inbound tourist source market.

The first inbound tourist group poses for a group photo after arriving in Jinan. [Photo/Dazhong News]