During the Spring Festival holiday, a golden time for tourism sector, Zigong city in southern Sichuan received 3.2 million tourists, up 14.8 percent, announced the city’s tourism authority on Feb. 22.

Banking on the increasing tourist numbers, the city realized tourism revenue of 1.73 billion yuan, up 24.6 percent, during the same time. Star-rated hotels in the city saw an average room occupancy rate of 78.4 percent.

To tap the growing tourism market, the city arranged a rich variety of celebratory activities during the Spring Festival holiday period, including the dinosaur-themed lantern festival, which attracted 421,500 visitors from Feb. 16 to 21, taking place at the Caideng Park.

Another lantern show at the Dafo Temple in Rongxian county, in the west of Zigong, attracted 100,000 visitors from Feb. 9 to 20, taking advantage of the famous tourism attraction Rongxian Buddha, a cliff carved stone statue from Tang Dynasty (618-907).

As a national intangible cultural heritage, Zigong lantern show has been introduced to 60 countries and regions since late 1980s, gaining popularity worldwide. For the Lunar New Year celebrations in 2018, Zigong lanterns have been displayed in a number of international locations including Copenhagen, Singapore, Los Angeles and Brussels.

Other tourism attractions in the city were also tapped to attract visitors, including the heritage sites of its well salt production that gained the city’s economic importance in history.