During the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Zhanjiang received 4.08 million visitors and made 1.78 billion yuan ($268 million) in revenue, up 16.42 and 18.87 percent year-on-year respectively.

With such phenomenal growth, officials feel some credit should be given to Charming China Cities, a TV program broadcast by CCTV recently to showcase Zhanjiang's cityscape and beautiful scenery.

A lion dance is performed in Zhanjiang on the program Charming China Cities. [Photo/yinsha.com]

Thanks in part to this publicity, the hotel occupancy rate in Zhanjiang during the holiday reached 90 percent, while passenger flows by plane surged 39 percent and registered a record-high.

The continuous rain didn't spoil the festive atmosphere created by the city along with an array of themed activities and characteristic tourism products, said an executive from Zhanjiang Tourism Bureau.

During the festival, Zurong town launched its second Handcraft Festival celebrating ingenious handicraftsmen who were invited to demonstrate how to make tobacco pipes, pottery, lacquerware, Chinese zithers, as well as wood and?nut carvings.

The second Handcraft Festival was launched in Zurong town of Zhanjiang during the holiday. [Photo/mm111.net]

In addition to folk art performances such as lion dance, Huguangyan scenic area, Sanlingshan Forest Park, Cunjinqiao and Haibin parks provided visitors with horticultural displays and many sightseeing activities.

Hot-air balloon tours, a beach music party, a water sports carnival, a light show, food and hot spring festivals were also held throughout the city.

Taking a seaplane over Qiongzhou Straits proved to be a visitor favorite. At a cost of 300 yuan, tourists can travel between Hai'an Port of Zhanjiang and Xiuying Port of Haikou within 20 minutes.

Big changes in the way people travel were also highlighted, with the city seeing a surge in tourists choosing self-driving and agritainment (farm-based entertainment). In the first four days of the holiday, Zhanjiang received more than 900,000 self-driving tourists, a year-on year increase of 13.78 percent.

As of Oct 8, the number of visitors welcomed by tourism enterprises at agritainment scenic spots increased 15 percent year-on-year to more than 2 million.