Qingdao, Shandong province [Photo/VCG]

Qingdao in Shandong province has made great strides in boosting its hotel industry, a major driving force for the recovery and high-quality development of its tourism market. It is also building a bay area suitable for living, working, and traveling.

The city held an array of activities recently, including the China Hotel Industry Development Forum on March 21, which was sponsored by the China Tourist Hotels Association. At the forum, the "Top 10 Tourist Hotels" and "Top 10 Cultural Theme Hotels" lists were released.

Su Hongwei, head of the market management division of the Qingdao bureau of culture and tourism, said Qingdao will rely on national and provincial tourist resorts to provide consumers with comprehensive services integrating "food, accommodation, travel, shopping, and entertainment" in an effort to improve tourist satisfaction in an all-round way.

Qingdao is accelerating the clustering of first-class hotels led by high-end leisure resorts, five-star hotels, and characteristic homestays.

Haitian Hotel is a shining example of high-end resorts in Qingdao. Since its opening in 2021, the hotel has received a total of 340,000 tourists.

"With the strong recovery of the cultural tourism market, Haitian Hotel will continue to work hard to attract more visitors," said Ding Kuo, Party secretary of Qingdao Conson Exhibition Hotel Development Co Ltd.

In recent years, Qingdao has enjoyed a boom in the opening of high-end hotels and five-star tourist resorts. By 2021, the number of five-star tourist hotels in Qingdao reached 11, including the newly opened Wanda Vista Qingdao Movie Metropolis, Chateau Star River Qingdao, and Le Méridien Qingdao West Coast Resort. Curretly, there are more than 30 high-end tourist hotels in the city.

The upcoming 2023 Shandong Provincial Tourism Development Conference will inject new impetus into the vitality of Qingdao's tourism industry. Laoshan district is optimizing the "food, accommodation, travel, shopping, and entertainment" industry chain, accelerating four tourism projects with a total investment of about 23 billion yuan ($3.36 billion). In addition, Qingdao West Coast New Area is constructing Zhucha Island to create an international tourism destination.