Shandong moves to support inbound tourism

Cities in Shandong province have unveiled a package of measures to invigorate inbound tourism — including rewards for chartering a plane and subsidies for promoting the province in overseas markets.

The provincial capital Jinan will resume inbound tourism and increase its efforts to attract tourists from home and abroad, said Su Wen, deputy head of the Jinan bureau of culture and tourism.

The city will host a series of activities to attract tourists and provide subsidies to boost local tourism operations, Su said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Qingdao saw 23 tourists from Hong Kong arrive on Monday for a five-day tour — the province's first inbound tourist group after the Chinese mainland resumed normal travel with Hong Kong and Macao on Feb 6.

Shandong will arrange 10 million yuan ($1.46 million) of awards to subsidize tourism-related sectors, including chartering a plane, taking a cruise and organizing field-research tours to the province, according to the provincial department of culture and tourism.

The province will also set aside 20 million yuan to support tourism promotion work in overseas markets.