Xiamen has shared its experience in developing inbound tourism at the 2026 World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit, highlighting innovative approaches that have helped position the city as a gateway for international visitors to China.
The summit, held on June 2 in Beijing, is an annual international tourism exchange event organised by the World Tourism Cities Federation.
As one of the federation’s first member cities, Xiamen participated alongside major Chinese inbound tourism destinations including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and Hangzhou.
The city also exchanged experiences with international tourism cities such as Athens, Buenos Aires and Wellington, with participants discussing ways to expand and upgrade the global cross-border tourism market.
During the summit, Xiamen presented three key strategies that have supported its development as a gateway city for inbound tourism.
Top on the list is empowering tourism through arts and culture, improving convenience for international visitors through digital and intelligent upgrades, and enhancing tourism quality through new consumption scenarios.
In recent years, Xiamen has intensified efforts to explore and promote its cultural heritage, enrich tourism offerings, optimise service standards and streamline procedures to improve the overall visitor experience.
Through the integration of culture and tourism, the city has used arts and cultural resources to strengthen its tourism appeal and promote sustainable industry growth.
To make travel easier for international tourists, Xiamen has established inbound tourist service stations at its airport and introduced a range of digital innovations.
These include contactless customs clearance systems, AI-powered translation robots and other smart tourism tools designed to improve convenience and accessibility for overseas visitors.
Christopher Coker, Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Tourism Organization, said many Pacific island countries rely on marine resources to attract international visitors, similar to Xiamen.
He noted that Xiamen’s inbound tourism practices provide a valuable reference model for destinations seeking to strengthen their international tourism sectors.
Promoting Minnan Culture
As part of efforts to enhance tourism quality, Xiamen has developed the “Yujian Minnan” themed scenic area, which presents traditional Minnan (Hokkien) culture through a modern international approach.
The city’s culture and tourism authorities have also expanded their global outreach by launching multilingual travel guides on international social media platforms.
Meanwhile, leading travel agencies, including CITS Xiamen, C&D International Travel and Xiamen Airlines Tours, have continued to improve the professional standards of international tour guides and tourism service personnel.
These efforts received positive recognition from guests attending the summit.
According to the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the city maintains close cooperation with major international tourism organisations, including UN Tourism, the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), the World Tourism Alliance (WTA) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
The bureau said member cities participating in the 2026 WTCF Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit possess extensive tourism resources and source markets, creating opportunities for deeper collaboration.
Xiamen plans to strengthen cooperation in areas such as international market development, inbound tourism quality standards and tourism investment, while introducing more high-quality cross-border tourism routes.
Ahead of the summit, Xiamen successfully hosted its largest travel trade familiarisation tour of the year.
More than 120 key travel agents and social media influencers from China and overseas visited the city to experience its latest tourism products and attractions firsthand.
Participants praised Xiamen’s rich cultural heritage, diverse tourism offerings and high-quality services.
Following the visit, many indicated plans to develop and market Xiamen-focused tourism products, helping more international travellers begin their journey through China from Xiamen.
