On April 18th, the "Peace Ship" Pacific World cruise ship docked at Shenzhen Shekou Cruise Home Port again after half a month, bringing another group of international tourists to Shenzhen and fully experiencing the natural scenery and cultural landscape of Pengcheng. "I came to Shenzhen for a business trip in the 1990s, and the spirit of hard work and pragmatism here left a deep impression on me. After more than 30 years, I specifically disembarked to take a look and found that the city here has undergone tremendous changes. The historical heritage of the ancient city of Nantou also surprised me," said a Japanese Chinese tourist.
Roaming the ancient city of Nantou, savoring Cantonese cuisine, driving to Lianhua Mountain, and watching the bay area at sea The current home port of Shekou cruise ships combines the new mission of "seeing the world from Shenzhen" for people and "seeing China from Shenzhen" for tourists, promoting the comprehensive development of inbound tourism in Shenzhen. The convenience of inbound tourism has also become a "new chip" for the high-quality development of tourism in Shenzhen.
Tourism Scenery: "International Style", Thousand Journeys and Hundred Industries, "Convenient Travel"
The ancient city of Nantou, known as the historical and cultural root of the Shenzhen Hong Kong Macao region, has recently welcomed many fresh faces of different skin colors. "It surprised me that Shenzhen has such an ancient side," said a tourist from Iran. In order to facilitate more international friends to enter the "Shenzhen cultural heritage", the supporting services of the tourism industry have also been continuously optimized and adjusted. "Recently, we have set up an international volunteer team to serve foreign friends in full English and take them to visit the ancient city of Nantou," said Xie Jinyan, an international volunteer at the Nanshan District Museum.
Faced with huge market potential, Shenzhen travel agencies are rolling out new tricks. "Recently, our travel agency has received 3000 to 4000 foreign tourists, of which over 95% are from Asia. Recruiting and training tour guides in minority languages has become a key task this year," said Yi Yongjun, the person in charge of Shenzhen Wanyue Tourism Co., Ltd.
The popularity of inbound tourism has also driven the hotel industry to continue to heat up. According to statistics, in the first quarter of 2024, Shenzhen's tourism industry received 177400 overnight foreigners, a year-on-year increase of 196.2%. As the only official designated hotel for the 2024 Shenzhen Milan Twin Cities Fashion Week, Jinjiang Hotel has seized the Italian love for coffee and introduced its Zhefei hotel brand, which is characterized by coffee culture, into the venue, using finely ground coffee to build a bridge for communication with guests. The staff of the Shangri La Hotel in Shenzhen, who speak Thai, Malay and other minority languages, have attached corresponding national flags to the chest of their uniforms, making it easier for foreign guests in need to quickly find the right person. The check-in registration system of Dapeng Homestay has completed full coverage, further opening up accommodation resources. Foreign friends can register their guest information through the tourism system, and local police officers can also come to assist in registration.
In terms of promoting and marketing inbound tourism, Shenzhen has taken a combination of online and offline measures. Develop a bilingual urban tourism promotion mini program called "International Friends' Deep Tour Guide" online, regularly update information on the city's inbound tourism facilitation, cultural, tourism, sports and business activities, and consumer welfare measures, further unleashing the potential of holiday tourism consumption. Offline printing of supporting brochures, improving practical tips including entry visa convenience policies, payment convenience, departure tax refunds, communication services, and a comprehensive service system for "food, accommodation, transportation, travel, shopping, and entertainment", providing comprehensive and convenient tourism information for foreign tourists. Before the May Day holiday, the bilingual mini program of "International Friends' Deep Tour Guide" will be officially launched, and supporting folding pages will be distributed synchronously at key cultural and tourism venues such as airports, ports, hotels, and tourist centers in scenic spots.
"Enjoy Freedom" by Swiping Cards at the "Smooth" Place for Inbound Payment
Shenzhen is not "out of sight" and pays "so easy". Recently, Shenzhen issued a work plan on further optimizing payment services and building a comprehensive payment demonstration zone, which has become a hot topic on how to improve the smoothness of payment for overseas people.
To this end, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports quickly responded and issued a notice on further optimizing payment services for tourism enterprises and improving payment convenience. "At present, the city has achieved full coverage of domestic and foreign bank card services in three-star and above tourist hotels, national 5A level scenic spots, national level tourist resorts, and national level tourist leisure blocks. In addition, we have also promoted the establishment of foreign currency exchange service points and foreign currency ATMs in multiple five-star hotels. The relevant person in charge of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports stated that merchants who have settled in the Shenzhen Museum of Ancient Art and Historical Folklore have completed full coverage of domestic and foreign bank card services. Shenzhen theaters have added four new foreign card POS machines, and the city is expected to complete the deployment of bank card equipment in key cultural and tourism venues by the end of May.".
This thoughtful measure has gained a lot of fans from foreign friends. "Traveling is my hobby, and Shenzhen scenic spots have done a great job in facilitating ticket purchases and park entry. You can make purchases through bank cards, cash, WeChat payments, and other methods, which is very convenient." Maya from Serbia said that in addition to scenic spots, it is also very convenient to make payments in hotels and shopping malls in Shenzhen, and most of them are equipped with external card POS machines. It is understood that the entire city of Shenzhen has basically achieved full coverage of POS machines for three-star and above hotels, and several star rated hotels are actively negotiating with banks to add self-service foreign currency exchange devices.
"This is very different from the last time I came to China. I am very happy to be able to use my VISA card to consume smoothly in Shenzhen." Richard, a Canadian business person, mentioned that he booked a Wyndham hotel in Shenzhen and used his VISA card to pay for the room fee. In his spare time, he also invited his Chinese friends to the Chunjiang Chao restaurant in Shenzhen's MixC using his VISA card banquet.
It is understood that the "Cross border+Hard Wallet" will enter the 2.0 upgrade mode this year, which is planned to be aimed at all overseas people. Without the need for mobile phones and the internet, payment can be made with just a touch during daily consumption such as dining, shopping, and transportation. The person in charge of digital RMB business at Bank of China Shenzhen Branch revealed that overseas tourists can apply for a digital RMB hard wallet on their own after entering the country. This not only allows them to immediately integrate into the domestic mobile payment environment, but also enjoy promotions offered by various regions. The continuous upgrading of inbound payments will inject a source of power into Shenzhen's development into a world-class tourist destination.
The first stop of inbound tourism activates the freshness of cultural tourism
Adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau, and connected to the world, Shenzhen's unique location advantage makes it an excellent choice for international inbound tourism as the "first stop".
At present, Shenzhen is deeply promoting the facilitation of inbound tourism, continuously expanding its inbound tourism market, and adding fuel and salary to the construction of a world-class tourist and leisure resort city.
In terms of optimizing the functions of international tourism services, Shenzhen fully leverages the positive role of the 144 hour visa free transit policy, makes good use of the convenient measures for 24-hour direct transit passengers to avoid border inspection procedures, optimizes entry and exit and customs clearance processes, vigorously improves the convenience of inbound tourism and consumption, and continuously improves the guarantee of inbound tourism services.
Introducing new high-quality tourism products is the key to continuously delivering a sense of freshness to tourists. "Shenzhen plans to link commercial districts, scenic spots, hotels, parks, blocks and other cultural and tourism venues near the airport port, encourage the exploration of diversified and characteristic tourism new formats, launch 5 industrial tourism demonstration routes, and accelerate the construction of an innovative ecosystem in the science and technology tourism industry." The relevant person in charge of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports stated that Shenzhen adheres to innovation in tourism products, encourages travel agencies to launch 10 transit tourism packages that are popular and loved by foreign tourists in the short to medium term (one day, three days, five days, etc.), and stimulates tourism consumption vitality.
Taking the creation of the "Golden Circle of Shenzhen Hong Kong Joint Travel" as an example, on April 19th, the first simplified and traditional Chinese dual version guide book for deep joint travel in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area - "Shenzhen Hong Kong Joint Travel Guide" was officially released. In order to adapt to the new trend of Shenzhen Hong Kong integration and two-way travel in the Bay Area, Shenzhen actively connects with the "Two Cities and Three Circles" plan of the northern metropolitan area of Hong Kong, promotes the opening of more "Sea View Bay Area" tourist routes, and 5 demonstration tourism and leisure routes that reflect the same roots and origins of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, as well as the vitality and charm of the times, to create a multi city linkage tourism circle with Shenzhen as the core and connecting the world.
"Shen" loves welcoming guests, "Zhen" is waiting for you. According to Ctrip data, Shenzhen ranked fourth among the top ten popular destination cities for inbound tourism in the first quarter. This "Pearl of the Bay Area" is embarking on an open and inclusive journey with meticulous attention to detail, creating a world-class and shared first stop for international inbound tourism. We are fully welcoming visitors from all directions into a vibrant Shenzhen and savoring the charm of China.