On December 24th, the launch ceremony and strategic cooperation signing event of Shenzhen’s “Free Half-Day Tour for Inbound Visitors” project was held at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport. At the event, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports signed a cooperation agreement with Trip.com Group, jointly launching the “Free Half-Day Tour for Inbound Visitors” project for international tourists. The event also unveiled a series of activities themed 2026 Shenzhen Invitation – Celebrate the Chinese New Year in Shenzhen, which not only fully showcases the cultural and tourism charm of this southern metropolis in its mild winter, but also extends a warm invitation to tourists from home and abroad to experience in advance the openness and premium services of the host city of the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
The one-year “Free Half-Day Tour for Inbound Visitors” project precisely caters to the demand of international travelers for a short stay with in-depth experience, featuring three core highlights: short duration, high quality and distinctive characteristics. It provides a worry-free full journey experience covering pre-trip, in-trip and post-trip services with multilingual support, serving as the first splendid touchpoint for international tourists to get to know Shenzhen. The tour route cleverly connects three landmark attractions: Lianhuashan Park (a witness to reform and opening-up), Nantou Ancient Town (a carrier of historical and cultural heritage) and Talent Park (a symbol of innovation ecology). Within just half a day, international visitors can immerse themselves in Shenzhen’s urban development trajectory, from a forefront of reform to a highland of innovation. All international visitors entering China via Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport are eligible to sign up for the tour.
The 2026 Shenzhen Invitation – Celebrate the Chinese New Year in Shenzhen series includes cultural and tourism check-in routes, landmark attractions, gourmet destinations and consumption promotion measures, with a total of 174 integrated cultural, tourism, commercial, sports and exhibition events. These events cover seven thematic scenarios: Lunar New Year folk customs, sports competitions, music performances, culture and art, trendy consumption, ticket stub economy and coastal adventure cruises, sincerely inviting tourists from home and abroad to “Celebrate the Chinese New Year in Shenzhen”.
Shenzhen Accelerates the Development into a World-Class City for Sightseeing and Leisure Vacations
As an open window welcoming guests from all over the world, a cultural and tourism bridge linking the dreams of the Asia-Pacific region, and an innovation hub blooming with boundless splendor, Shenzhen has made forward-looking plans and pooled systematic efforts. Seizing the historic opportunity of hosting the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, Shenzhen has invigorated the inbound tourism market with vibrant momentum. Statistics show that Shenzhen received 2.4167 million inbound foreign tourists in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 87.5%. In the first three quarters of 2025, the city received 2.2020 million inbound foreign tourists, maintaining a robust year-on-year growth of 65.5%, with tourism revenue reaching 1.903 billion US dollars.
With the simultaneous upgrade of service capacity and market vitality, Shenzhen has steadily consolidated its status as an international tourism hub. Since the start of 2025, Shenzhen has comprehensively upgraded its tourism products, marketing strategies and services, striving to build a tourism destination image that “pleases locals and attracts visitors from afar” both nationwide and globally. These efforts have laid a solid foundation for the upcoming Asia-Pacific grand gathering, and continuously injected consumption momentum and cultural vitality into the high-quality development of Guangdong Province.
Product Upgrading Unlocks a New Track for Inbound Tourism
Market demand evolves, and product supply takes the lead.
Liu Yuanfeng, Vice President of the Shenzhen Travel Agency Association, has been deeply engaged in the inbound tourism industry for 26 years, witnessing its transformation from superficial sightseeing to in-depth experience. He told reporters, “Taking the opportunity of the 2026 APEC meeting, Shenzhen can integrate unique resources such as high-tech enterprises and low-altitude economy experiences, link cultural scenic spots in neighboring areas of Guangdong, and build a product matrix of technology + culture. With high-standard services, tourists can truly understand Shenzhen, unlocking a new track for inbound tourism.”
How to optimize and upgrade tourism routes, improve service quality, and launch more targeted and convenient inbound tourism products and services?
Shenzhen’s answer is: building new benchmarks with major projects and exploring new experiences with diverse routes.
In 2025, Shenzhen’s supply of high-quality tourism products has become more abundant. The city has completed and opened major cultural and tourism projects including Qianhai Ice and Snow World, Shenzhen Bay Cultural Plaza and Happy Harbor Theatre, and added 50 premium themed tourism routes. Cruise ships such as Star Cruises’ Gulangyu, Peace Boat’s Pacific World and Adora Cruises’ Mediterranean have successively docked in Shenzhen. The “Bay Area Maritime Tour” has launched sea routes connecting Shenzhen with Hong Kong and Macao; a cultural tourism project on the West Artificial Island of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor has been developed and launched, driving the upgrading of transportation hubs into comprehensive landmarks. Shenzhen has also established a national-level technical center for drone swarm low-altitude performances under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 18 local resources have been included in the provincial industrial tourism cultivation database, ranking first in Guangdong Province, and 10 projects have been selected into the third batch of popular scenarios for new cultural and tourism consumption formats in Guangdong.
“Taking the hosting of the 2026 APEC meeting as a crucial opportunity to empower international exchanges through culture and tourism, we will continue to optimize the policy environment and service system in the future, allowing global tourists to experience Shenzhen’s innovative vitality, the beauty of its mountains and seas, and the warmth of the city,” said Li Qiangqiang, Deputy Director of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports. Leveraging the dual advantages of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Zone, as well as its positioning as an international transportation hub, Shenzhen has actively adopted favorable national and provincial policies for inbound tourism, continuously upgraded inbound service facilities and enriched the supply of cultural and tourism products, leading to a vigorous recovery of the inbound tourism market.
Opening Dividends Activate New Momentum for Inbound Tourism Development
Urban image marketing is the most intuitive window to a city’s attractiveness.
Shenzhen has rolled out a series of initiatives since 2025: issuing the Work Plan for Shenzhen to Accelerate the Development into a World-Class City for Sightseeing and Leisure Vacations (2025-2027); joining the World Tourism Cities Federation; building the urban tourism IP of Amazing Shenzhen – Travel the World, Stay in Shenzhen; launching the Shenzhen Tourism Annual Calendar and Weekly Fun events; planning the integrated development of culture, tourism, commerce, sports and exhibitions, and maintaining year-round popularity with seasonal themes. The drone light show celebrating the 45th anniversary of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone garnered over 200 million views and drove over 1.2 billion RMB in consumption on the day of the show. During the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair, the city launched the “100 Tour Groups Visiting the Cultural Fair” event for inbound tourists for the first time, and organized the “Shenzhen Gifts, All Fortunes Come” campaign during the 15th National Games.
Upon the official announcement that Shenzhen will be the third Chinese city to host the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, the city has launched a comprehensive marketing system and plan under the brand of 2026 APEC Shenzhen Invitation, continuously amplifying the effect of the “ticket stub economy”. It has invited more than 20 top internet celebrities from home and abroad, including well-known online influencers, to host live streams in Shenzhen for urban marketing, built a global narrative and distribution system for “Shenzhen Stories”, and effectively enhanced the city’s international reputation and popularity.
“Shenzhen integrates the features of a modern metropolis, the momentum of scientific and technological innovation, the heritage of historical culture and the charm of coastal leisure,” said Zhang Xu, Vice President of Trip.com Group. He added that Trip.com will rely on its global platform matrix, mature service system and data empowerment advantages to closely connect the needs of international tourists with Shenzhen’s cultural and tourism characteristics. Taking the opportunity of the pre-heating for the APEC meeting, Trip.com will optimize the full-chain services, enabling more global friends to understand and love Shenzhen, and helping to expand the global influence of Shenzhen’s cultural and tourism brand.
International Standards Build a New Ecosphere for Both Locals and Visitors
Convenience and safety are the core concerns of long-distance travelers and a touchstone for a city’s internationalization level. In 2025, Shenzhen has continuously improved the facilitation and internationalization of inbound tourism: introducing 10 new international high-end brand hotels; establishing a long-term mechanism to attract international tourists in cooperation with renowned travel agencies and OTAs at home and abroad; achieving full coverage of overseas bank card acceptance and instant tax refund for departing tourists; deploying AI translation, luggage delivery and multilingual services across the city; launching the “Free Half-Day Tour for Inbound Visitors” and AI City Travel Card, creating a new experience of zero-threshold travel and a superior environment where “the whole city is a scenic spot”. It is estimated that Shenzhen will receive 37 million inbound tourists for the whole year, with the number of foreign tourists increasing by more than 40%, and international tourism revenue reaching 9.5 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 30%.
On December 22nd, Shenzhen Airlines officially launched its first Australia route – a direct flight from Shenzhen to Melbourne. This trans-Southern Hemisphere route has further narrowed the distance between Shenzhen and the world.
Zhang Shukai, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of China Merchants Cruise Lines, revealed that the company plans to launch a special themed cruise named Asia-Pacific Reception Hall · Maritime Summit, providing top-tier maritime business reception and services for the APEC meeting, and giving full play to the unique role of China Merchants Cruise Lines as a maritime gateway.
Currently, economies of the APEC member economies including the United States, Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia have become the top 10 source countries of inbound foreign tourists to Shenzhen, showing the continuous expansion of Shenzhen’s international “circle of friends”.
To welcome the 2026 APEC meeting and the upcoming festive season, Shenzhen has seized the opportunity to launch a city-wide warm winter carnival themed 2026 Shenzhen Invitation – Celebrate the Chinese New Year in Shenzhen. Integrating cultural, commercial, tourism and sports resources, the carnival features 174 events under six themes: A Festive Warm Winter, A Sporting Warm Winter, A Rhythmic Warm Winter, An Artistic Warm Winter, A Trendy Warm Winter and An Adventurous Warm Winter. It offers international tourists the “Free Half-Day Tour for Inbound Visitors” and the smart AI City Travel Card; introduces world-class cultural events such as the Verbier Festival Shenzhen 2026; holds traditional festive events including the New Year Flower Market and the “One Family Under the Sky” Parade; and presents a number of star concerts, top sports competitions and art exhibitions. Coupled with city-wide benefits such as the Double 12 Shopping Festival and consumption coupons, Shenzhen sincerely invites tourists from home and abroad to spend a warm and festive winter in the city with open arms and enthusiasm.
Taking the APEC meeting as an opportunity and smart tourism as a starting point, Shenzhen extends a sincere invitation to the world: Travel the World, Stay in Shenzhen. The city is steadily advancing on its journey to become a world-class destination for sightseeing and leisure vacations, allowing the charm of this miracle city to shine endlessly.
