URUMQI, July 23 -- Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, recorded 50.57 million tourist visits in the first half of 2025, making it China's third most popular summer travel destination, said a press conference on Wednesday.

A series of cultural and tourism events, such as traditional folk performances and performing arts festivals, have drawn tourists from around the world, according to the regional people's government.

The city's tourism boom has been supported by an increasingly convenient transport network. Urumqi Tianshan International Airport, a national gateway hub, boasts annual passenger trips of 48 million and a cargo throughput of 550,000 tonnes. It operates 258 flight routes connecting over 100 cities at home and abroad.

Last year, Xinjiang received over 300 million tourist visits, generating more than 359 billion yuan (about 50.27 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism revenue, a year-on-year increase of 21 percent.