China's capital city Beijing is infusing technology into its cultural tourism fabric, drawing growing interest from foreign visitors with its tech-powered novel experiences.
According to border inspection data, as of Friday, the number of foreigners entering and exiting through Beijing reached 3.389 million, a year-on-year increase of 31.5 percent, with tourism and business being the primary purposes of entry.
Technology-empowered cultural tourism has been a central focus in the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Beijing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit held from June 1 to 4.
"In many ways I have to say Beijing is beyond most destinations in terms of how much they've advanced in terms of technology. So we were very impressed and we really encourage Beijing to continue to do excellent work in this area because overall in China, it's leading in terms of technology in many areas. And I think that many of the technologies that Beijing and China are developing will be very applicable for other destinations around the world," Peter Semone, chair of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, said on the sidelines of the event.
"I think there is a lot of interesting exchange between different cities, and we are really impressed about all the development in terms of digitalization and numerical development that has been made here in Beijing. That was really impressive during all my stay. We can learn a lot from each other because we [all have] different culture point of view and that's really important to understand if we make better promotion, for our both destinations," said Patrick Bontinck, CEO of Visit Brussels.
At the 2026 Beijing International Cultural and Tourism Consumption Expo also held in early June, a wide range of tech-driven products and application scenarios were showcased and an increasing number of overseas travel platforms and buyers are seizing opportunities presented by Beijing's technology-empowered cultural tourism.
During the tree-day expo held form June 5 to 7, total transaction volume exceeded 520 million yuan (about 77 million in U.S. dollars), with on-site trade reaching 226 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.7 percent.
"China is very popular destination for foreigners from all over the world, and now the volume of tourists is increasing. Chinese market nowadays is super, super important for us," said the China chief representative of a Swiss business travel group at the expo.
This summer, a series of tour routes blending traditional culture, cutting-edge technology, suburban Beijing landscapes, and wellness from a traditional Chinese medicine-perspective will be launched. Additionally, 4 to 8-hour city flash tour itineraries designed for short-stay and transit international tourists will soon hit the market.
Going forward, Beijing will continue to advance tech-driven cultural tourism and innovation to contribute to the development of the global cultural tourism industry.
"In the future, we will promote the development of new quality productive forces in cultural tourism from the perspectives of public services, industrial upgrading, and market governance, and advance the application of science and technology in cultural tourism scenarios," said Zheng Fang, vice director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.
Beijing embraces inbound tourism with new tech-powered highlights
