Tai'an was chosen as a "top 10 domestic FIT travel destination" at the 2018 Global Destination Marketing Summit and World Culture and Tourism Forum held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province on April 19.

The 2018 Global Destination Marketing Summit and World Culture and Tourism Forum is held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province on April 19. [Photo/WeChat account: SDTXTA]

The top 10 domestic travel destinations were selected based on the data of travel orders and comments by 300 million users of online tour operator Ctrip, and a public online voting that lasted for three months.

The 10 cities are Tai'an of Shandong province, Suzhou and Taizhou of Jiangsu province, Hulun Buir and Erdos of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Enshi in Hubei province, Chongqing, Luoyang of Henan province, Huzhou in Zhejiang province and Ngari prefecture of Tibet autonomous region.

The inclusion in the list fully proves that Tai'an has become a preferred travel destination for domestic and foreign tourists, and has further expanded its brand influence.

Tai'an has been promoting transformation and upgrading of its tourism in recent years. According to Zhang Zhaohui, official of the Tai'an tourism development committee, the government keeps on making every effort, including subdividing passenger sources and organizing various activities, to enhance tourists' recognition of its brand and achieve a sense of identity within the tourism industry.

Tai'an also continues to deepen its collaboration with large-scale online travel agencies to create tourism products and high-quality theme routes for domestic and foreign tourists with different needs.

Li Huamin, director of the Tai'an tourism development committee, signed an agreement at the summit with Ctrip to pursue in-depth cooperation.

Tai'an signs an agreement with China's online tour operator Ctrip at the 2018 Global Destination Marketing Summit. [Photo/WeChat account: SDTXTA]

Domestic and overseas governments, leading figures in the tourism industry and destination marketing experts attended the meeting to discuss the future of destination marketing and how tourism locales can make better use of marketing products.