Two Vietnamese visitors enjoy coastal views during a tour in Qingdao, Shandong province, from Jan 2 to 7. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Qingdao has stepped up efforts to attract inbound tourists from Southeast Asia and the Republic of Korea, as Chinese cities compete to capture the "Travel China" trend at the start of the year.

More than 30 Vietnamese travel agents and over 10 online content creators visited the coastal city between Friday and Wednesday, with many arriving on the new direct flight linking Ho Chi Minh and Qingdao. The visit followed the opening of the route earlier this month, which cuts one-way travel time to about five hours, roughly half that of previous itineraries requiring transfers.