Guangxi Guilin Becomes China's First Online to Offline Tourist City

Guilin in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is blessed with karst landform that is only available in the subtropical zone. There are miles of picturesque scenery along the Lijiang River and dragon keel-shaped terraced fields. These splendid sceneries are always the favorite of National Geographic magazine. Right now, if you want to enjoy the scenery and food here, with a single click, you can book tickets and hotels, and buy tasty food online.

The Guilin municipal government and web service company Baidu launched a mobile account at Baidu "@Travel in Guilin" in December 2014. Since then, cell phone users can type "@Travel in Guilin" in Baidu search, and then search for hot sightseeing spots and transport means, buy tourist attraction tickets, book hotels and purchase local special flavors. Many hot accommodation and sightseeing destinations are included, such as Lijiang Waterfall Hotel, the Reed Flute Scenic Area, and Xiaonanguo Restaurant. Guilin became the first Online To Offline (O2O) travel city in China.

Officials of the Guilin Travel Bureau said at the launching ceremony that the "@Travel in Guilin" account includes about 20 tourist attractions, hotels, shopping malls and restaurants. Other 22 sightseeing spots will be included in 2015. In the near future, "@Travel in Guilin" will be an influential travel information platform. Guilin has grown into a new hot travel destination over the past years. Based on statistics issued by the Municipal Travel Bureau, the city welcomed 28.229 million visitors in the first three quarters of 2014, with a total tourism income of 30.969 billion yuan (4.96 USD).