The Golden Waterway Tourism Alliance of the Bohai Bay Region, Liaoning, and Shandong Provinces is established.

To support the promotion of regional coordinated development, the construction of a strong transportation network, and the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry, efforts are being made to strengthen the Shandong-Liaoning land-sea linkage cultural tourism corridor and expand the breadth and depth of cross-regional cultural tourism cooperation. On August 20, the "Shandong-Liaoning Bohai Bay Golden Waterway Tourism Alliance—Weekend Half-Price Upgrade Tour + Football Ticket Half-Price Tour Press Conference" was held in Yantai, Shandong.

This event was hosted by Bohai Ferry Group Co., Ltd. in collaboration with COSCO Shipping Passenger Transport Co., Ltd., with the participation of cultural and tourism departments from Dalian, Yantai, and Weihai, as well as representatives from Liaoning Port Co., Ltd. Dalian Port Passenger Division, Liaoyu Port Co., Ltd., Shandong Port Yantai Port Group Co., Ltd. Passenger Division, Shandong Weihai Port International Passenger Co., Ltd., Dalian Port Lushun Port Affairs Co., Ltd., tourism alliance representatives, and media guests, totaling over 200 attendees. This marks a new stage in the coordinated development of Shandong-Liaoning port and cultural tourism, officially ushering in a new era of "Weekend Micro-Vacation" linked development around Bohai Bay.

Connecting Bohai Bay Cultural Tourism Resources

A full-chain discount linkage model of "ferry tickets + hotels + scenic spots + dining" has been implemented in cities such as Yantai, Dalian, Weihai, and Qingdao. This model has achieved cooperation results with over 170 hotels, 130 dining establishments, and nearly 40 scenic spots offering ticket discounts, proving that the cross-industry linkage benefit model is replicable and promotable.

Innovative activation of ticket stub economy has introduced dual ticket stub benefit policies. First, passengers holding Bohai Ferry tickets can enjoy exclusive discounted prices at alliance hotels, scenic spots, dining establishments, and other partner merchants. Second, passengers holding valid tickets for Northeast Super League, Shandong Super League, or Jiangsu Super League matches can purchase round-trip ferry tickets at half price for cabin upgrades.

By combining hotel, scenic spot, and dining discounts with ferry ticket benefits and exclusive perks for football fans, the initiative effectively reduces travel costs for the public, compresses rigid travel expenses, and fully stimulates travel intentions among family vacationers, middle-aged and elderly wellness tourists, weekend short-distance self-driving tourists, study tour groups, and sports event travelers. This transforms potential hesitant tourists into actual consumers, further unleashing the vitality of regional cultural tourism consumption.

Meanwhile, the alliance breaks down the barriers of isolated development in cultural tourism across regions. This tourism alliance is built using maritime ferry transportation as a link, strengthening the Shandong-Liaoning Bohai Bay corridor, creating a closed-loop route for coastal tourism in Shandong and mountain-sea tourism in the Liaodong Peninsula, and establishing a golden tourism corridor between the Shandong Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula.

Establishing a New Benchmark for Land-Sea Linked Cross-Regional Cultural Tourism

Shandong and Liaoning face each other across the sea, sharing cultural connections. Coastal cities such as Dalian, Yantai, Weihai, Lushun, and Penglai are linked together like pearls on a string. These cities serve as key nodes for sea-land interconnection between Northeast and East China and form a golden corridor rich in coastal cultural tourism resources. The coastal cultural tourism resources of the two regions complement each other, creating a new pattern of cultural tourism development where mountains and seas coexist.

As the busiest domestic passenger roll-on/roll-off transportation route across Bohai Bay, the Shandong-Liaoning passenger roll-on/roll-off route currently operates 24 roll-on/roll-off ships, transporting nearly 5 million passengers and over 1.2 million vehicles annually. It serves as both a transportation hub and a cultural tourism carrier.

The "Weekend Tour" product focuses on port-shipping linkage, cultural tourism integration, benefit-sharing, customer source sharing, consumption stimulation, and cross-regional interconnection. It establishes a "multi-city, six ports, two routes" comprehensive linkage system, developing themed products such as weekend micro-vacations, root-seeking tours, family reunion tours, and sports event travel. It aims to enhance the Shandong-Liaoning Bohai Bay coastal weekend tourism brand and create a benchmark for coordinated cultural tourism revitalization in Shandong and Liaoning.

Sun Bing, Deputy General Manager of COSCO Shipping Passenger Transport Co., Ltd., stated that the first phase of the "Shandong-Liaoning Passenger Roll-On/Roll-Off Route Weekend Tour" launched in May this year. Over the past three months, the product has transitioned from concept to practice, with "spending the weekend on the ship and exploring mountains and seas off the ship" becoming a new travel trend for residents of both regions. The alliance's establishment signifies a leap from "activity" to "mechanism" and from "trial" to "deep cultivation." The goal is to connect cultural tourism resources on both sides, provide full-process services, establish a normalized communication mechanism, and create a sustainable and replicable long-term cultural tourism brand, making "Weekend Tours" a shining example of cultural tourism integration in Bohai Bay.

Yu Xinjian, Party Secretary and General Manager of Bohai Ferry Group Co., Ltd., stated that the formation of the tourism alliance is an important practice in activating the Bohai Bay cultural tourism consumption market and empowering regional industrial development. By leveraging the alliance platform, cultural tourism departments, port-shipping enterprises, and cultural tourism operators can achieve resource sharing, customer source exchange, promotional integration, and benefit sharing. This transforms the advantages of maritime transportation into consumption, industrial, and development advantages. The focus is on creating a new "ticket stub economy" model, using "ferry tickets" and "football tickets" as links to connect land-sea consumption scenarios, fully unleashing the potential of the Bohai Bay cultural tourism market and injecting strong momentum into the coordinated high-quality development of Shandong and Liaoning.

Creating a New Experience for Mountain-Sea Travel

At the press conference, the Shandong-Liaoning passenger roll-on/roll-off route weekend half-price upgrade tour + football ticket half-price tour series products were officially launched. Centered on the concept of "One Ticket for Shandong and Liaoning, One Night to Explore Bohai," an integrated travel solution of "transportation + accommodation + tourism" was introduced.

The implementation period for the event is from August 28, 2026, to January 20, 2027 (excluding September 25 to October 8), covering the peak season for weekend travel in the second half of the year. Families traveling on weekends can purchase round-trip ferry tickets at offline windows with real-name registration, enjoying half-price discounts for all cabin types except seating, effectively lowering the threshold for cross-city travel and activating the family leisure and weekend micro-vacation market.

From July 1, 2026, to January 20, 2027 (excluding September 25 to October 8), football fans holding valid tickets for Northeast Super League, Shandong Super League, or Jiangsu Super League matches can purchase round-trip ferry tickets at half price for cabin upgrades. Passengers holding Bohai Ferry tickets can enjoy exclusive discounts from alliance partner merchants.

Comprehensive Coordination to Build a Powerful Force for Cultural Tourism Development

This event establishes a collaborative mechanism of "government guidance + enterprise leadership + market operation + cross-regional coordination." Bohai Ferry Group, COSCO Shipping Passenger Transport, Dalian Port, Liaoyu Port, Lushun Port, Yantai Port, Penglai Port, Weihai Port, and other port-shipping entities are deeply linked, joining forces with cultural tourism departments, key scenic spots, boutique hotels, dining establishments, and cultural tourism enterprises in Shandong and Liaoning. Together, they formed the first tourism alliance for the Bohai Bay Golden Waterway, creating a closed-loop of resource sharing, customer source exchange, and promotional coordination, strengthening the Shandong-Liaoning Bohai Bay corridor.

At the press conference, the organizers stated that they will rely on official platforms, ferry waiting halls, mainstream media, cultural tourism self-media, and short video matrices for all-channel promotion. They will showcase the coastal scenery of Shandong and Liaoning, release event information, and provide premium travel guides, comprehensively enhancing the brand influence of Bohai Bay cultural tourism.

The Dalian Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism highly recognized the weekend half-price upgrade tour + football ticket half-price tour. The second phase of the product released today achieves a comprehensive upgrade from "single-point breakthrough" to "systematic operation," integrating high-quality resources from multiple regions and expanding full-chain travel discounts. This allows tourists to explore Bohai Bay with one ticket, truly realizing "board one ship, visit multiple cities, and enjoy multiple benefits." Dalian will also launch a series of cultural and sports activities, warmly welcoming tourists to cross the sea and join the festivities.

The Yantai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism extended an invitation, stating that the establishment of this tourism alliance is not only a deep iteration of previous cooperation results but also an innovative practice of "port-shipping + cultural tourism" integration. Using a single ferry ticket as a link, the alliance connects maritime transportation and scenic spot tours into a full-chain consumption scenario. The Yantai Bureau of Culture and Tourism will fully ensure the services of the alliance, promoting the conversion of shipping passenger flow into cultural tourism consumption flow, and exploring new paths for enhancing the quality and efficiency of the Bohai Bay cultural tourism industry.

The Weihai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism pledged to fully integrate into the "Three Cities, Six Ports, Two Routes" comprehensive linkage system, leveraging the empowerment of shipping routes to build a new cultural tourism pattern in Bohai Bay. By upgrading the integration of transportation and tourism, utilizing the cultural tourism ticket stub platform, expanding discounts on passenger ferry tickets, and connecting coastal tourism resources, Weihai aims to create a Bohai Bay coastal weekend tourism circle, achieving port-shipping linkage, customer source sharing, and consumption stimulation.

All parties will strengthen coordination through signing agreements, industry promotion, on-site observation, and customer source exchange to address the challenges of low-season route operations. Efforts will be made to transform passenger roll-on/roll-off ships from "transportation tools" into "tourist destinations," opening up a two-way flow channel for Shandong-Liaoning coastal cultural tourism.

Using the establishment of the first tourism alliance as a new starting point, Shandong and Liaoning provinces will continue to deepen innovation in port-shipping cultural tourism integration and cross-regional collaboration, strengthening the Shandong-Liaoning Bohai Bay corridor. Product updates and iterations will introduce holiday-themed routes, customized culinary experiences, study tours, and wellness routes, continuously enriching the supply of "micro-vacation at sea" products. Service upgrades will optimize port, ship, and scenic spot linkage services, improving special guarantees for silver-haired travelers, family trips, and football fans, creating a "safe, convenient, comfortable, and distinctive" full-chain travel experience. Brand cross-sector breakthroughs will be achieved through cultural tourism promotion events, new media dissemination, and cross-sector collaboration, establishing "Shandong-Liaoning Maritime Weekend Tours" as a cultural tourism IP rooted in the region and radiating nationwide. This will inject new momentum into the coordinated revitalization of Shandong-Liaoning cultural tourism and provide a vivid practical example for the implementation of the national marine economy development and all-region tourism strategy.