A bird's-eye view of Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

Qingdao witnessed a strong recovery in cultural tourism industry in the first half of this year, according to local authorities.

The city recorded 41.73 million trips made by visitors in the first six months this year, up 169.4 percent year-on-year, while its tourism revenue rose by 182.52 percent to 63.95 billion yuan ($9.9 billion), according to the local culture and tourism bureau.

Compared with the same period of 2019, the number of tourists recovered 99.23 percent and tourism revenue recovered 82.44 percent.

The opening of the Haitian Mall, the tallest building in Qingdao, Guomeng Cultural and Creative Industrial Park, as well as West Sea Art Gallery has injected new vitality into the development of Qingdao's cultural tourism industry, the bureau said.

From January to June this year, the city's cultural and entertainment industry's operating income reached 1.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 70.8 percent.

The city launched over 3,300 cultural and tourism consumption promotion activities in 2021, which attracted over 2 million participants. A total of 18.96 million yuan of consumer subsidies were issued to locals, stimulating about 104 million yuan in consumption.

Qingdao also organized the first Qingdao-France Cultural Art Festival, inviting about 200 expats to promote the music, food, and culture of France.