BRICS Summit boosts Xiamen tourism

The coastal city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province is enjoying a surge in tourism after hosting the BRICS Summit earlier this month, local media have reported.

The visit of world leaders such as Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin has generated huge publicity for the coastal city inside China, and this appears to be providing a major boost to the city's tourism industry.

Xiamen Online reported seeing large crowds of people outside the exhibition center where the summit was held, as well as special sculptures created for the event.

Tourists take photos near the Xiamen International Convention and Exhibition Center, the main venue of the BRICS Summit, which was held in Xiamen, Fujian province in early September. [Photo/sunnews.cn]

Several major travel agencies in the area have launched BRICS tourism packages to take advantage of tourists' interest in the summit, the report added.

Tourism industry experts are predicting that Xiamen will also be one of the most popular destinations in the country for this year's National Day holiday, which falls in two weeks' time, according to Xiamen Online.

Xiamen was predicted to be the ninth most popular city in China for trips during the upcoming holiday by a recent report published by Mafengwo, a leading Chinese travel website.

At the same time, Chinese travel companies have also reported an increase in bookings to the BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.

"Red tourism" to historical sites in the former Soviet Union, and cultural heritage-themed trips to South Arica are particularly popular among Chinese outbound tourists.