The tourism revenue in Xiamen rose to 140.2 billion yuan ($ 20.6 billion) last year, up 19.99 percent year-on-year, according to the Xiamen Tourism Development Commission.

Visitor arrivals grew by 13.66 percent to reach roughly 89 million, including 2.82 million overseas visitors, who were predominantly from Japan, the United States, Malaysia and South Korea.

Visitors from Japan last year totaled 187,000, more than any other foreign visitors to Xiamen, outnumbering tourists from the US and Malaysia.

Overnight visitors to the city from South Korea, the US and the Philippines increased in number at the fastest rate. Statistics show that in 2018, Xiamen received 138,000 visitors from South Korea, an uptick of 30.61 percent year-on-year.

Visits to the city culminated amid the National Day holiday last year, when it welcomed 89 million people from home and abroad, gaining 2.78 billion yuan in revenue.

The cruise lines that depart from Xiamen or arrive at the city also enjoyed robust growth. In 2018, Xiamen received 96 cruise ships. Its cruise home port alone welcomed 85 with 320,000 outbound and inbound tourists aboard.

Xiamen, dubbed the "Garden on the Sea", is located in East China's Fujian province and is one of most popular tourism destinations in the country.

Tourists walk down a street on Gulang Islet, a renowned scenic attraction in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/VCG]