Vascodagama Online Journal

From June 1 to 6, 2026, the 2026 Beijing Inbound Tourism Development Conference officially kicked off in Beijing, co-organized by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and the Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation, Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Moving beyond traditional conference models, this year’s event centers on integrating exhibitions with real-world resources and leveraging immersive, on-site experiences to stimulate cultural and tourism consumption. The conference aims to further refine Beijing’s inbound tourism product offerings and expand its global marketing footprint, accelerating the city’s transformation into China’s premier destination and a world-renowned hub for international visitors.

With strong support from domestic and international airlines including Air China and Cathay Pacific, the conference has brought together over 300 overseas travel trade professionals from more than 40 countries and regions, including Russia, the UK, the US, Canada, Germany, Singapore, and Malaysia, effectively covering Beijing’s core inbound source markets. At the opening ceremony, a senior official from China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism highlighted the country’s impressive inbound tourism performance in 2025: 154.5 million inbound tourist visits nationwide, 35.17 million international arrivals, over 30 million visa-free entries, steady growth in inbound tourism spending and exports of travel-related services, and nearly double the volume of duty-free refund claims processed upon departure. Today’s international travelers are shifting away from superficial sightseeing toward deeper, immersive experiences, exploring local neighborhoods, engaging with intangible cultural heritage performances, and embracing smart, tech-enabled tourism services. A Beijing municipal official emphasized that the city is continuously enhancing its inbound travel facilitation policies, including full implementation of the 240-hour visa-free transit policy, streamlined immigration and customs clearance at airports, universal acceptance of international payment cards across shopping districts, tourist attractions, and transport hubs. Furthermore, Beijing is expanding new tourism segments, such as MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions), sports tourism, and urban leisure, by leveraging major platforms like the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), international sporting events, and film festivals. The city is also deepening its global outreach through “Go Beijing”, its official overseas promotional platform.

In response to evolving global travel trends marked by younger, more experience-driven visitors seeking deeper cultural immersion, the conference centers on the theme “Becoming Chinese” immersive experiences in Chinese daily life” and proudly unveils “Discover the New Beijing” top 10 new inbound tourism experiences. This curated collection blends time-honored Eastern aesthetics, vibrant local street life, cutting-edge retail trends, and frontier innovation, offering a compelling blueprint for meaningful, in-depth exploration of Beijing. The event partnered with leading global OTAs including Booking.com and Tripadvisor, and drawing on vast consumer data and insights from over 100 Chinese and international cultural-tourism experts, unveiled for the first time the Beijing inbound tourism “Must-Eat” and “Must-Buy” Lists, spotlighting authentic local delicacies and distinctive Beijing-made products. These initiatives aim to shift inbound tourism beyond superficial sightseeing toward fully immersive, end-to-end experiences.

At the event, Beijing announced the allocation of RMB 9 million in dedicated funding to support inbound tourism, awarding local cultural and tourism enterprises that demonstrate outstanding innovation and service excellence. The city also welcomed 14 new overseas partners, bringing its total number of global strategic travel trade and OTA partners to 110, further expanding Beijing’s international source-market collaboration network.

The conference innovatively launched eight immersive, study-focused inspection routes designed to elevate the profile of suburban, tech, and industrial tourism in Beijing. These itineraries connect distinctive destinations from Gubei Water Town and Huairou’s boutique homestays to Baidu’s autonomous driving showcase and Shougang’s digital culture and creative park and pioneer a new format: the “Walking Workshop”, which moves business negotiations directly into real-world tourism settings. Travel trade representatives from countries including Spain and Saudi Arabia participated in on-site experiences and offered enthusiastic feedback. Highlights such as climbing the Great Wall with smart exoskeleton assistance and the fusion of rural landscapes with ancient capital heritage left international delegates deeply impressed, affirming their strong recognition of Beijing’s diverse and dynamic cultural-tourism appeal.

The business matchmaking session adopted a dual-track model, combining pre-event online pairing with on-site in-person negotiations. Prior to the conference, the digital platform successfully facilitated over 3,000 matchmaking meetings between Chinese and international travel trade representatives, with more than 150 domestic cultural and tourism enterprises participated on-site. The negotiation area was divided into four thematic zones: Business Matchmaking, Policy Briefing, Culture-Tech Innovation, and Traditional Chinese Medicine & Wellness Tourism, seamlessly integrating policy insights, interactive tech demonstrations, and immersive traditional cultural experiences. On the evening of June 5, the conference concluded on a high note with a vibrant Beijing-style immersive performance at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center. Looking ahead, Beijing will continue drawing on cultural and tourism platforms as vital conduits for international exchange, showcasing to the world a dynamic, multifaceted, and authentically modern Chinese city.

Media Contact
Company Name: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism
Contact Person: Wang Jinxiao
Email: Send Email
Country: China
Website: https://whlyj.beijing.gov.cn/