Belt & Road tourism increasingly popular among tourists

A new report from TripAdvisor suggests tourism resources in the Middle East, Eastern Europe as well as Western Asia are increasingly winning the hearts of Chinese tourists when it comes to tourism along the Belt and Road. [Photo: China Plus]

A new report on tourism along the route of Belt and Road Initiative is suggesting tourism resources in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, as well as Western Asia are increasingly winning the hearts of Chinese tourists.

Released by the world's largest travel site, TripAdvisor, the report says in 2016, the top 10 countries with the highest annual growth rate of visits on the website were Georgia (325%), Azerbaijan (112%), Ukraine (98%), South Korea (98%), Armenia (88%), Japan (80%), Russia (69%), Kyrgyzstan (68%), Indonesia (66%) and Iran (65%).

Photo taken on Nov. 9, 2016 shows the ancient Narikala fortress overlooks the old part of Tbilisi, Georgia. Georgia boasts the highest annual growth rate among visits on TripAdvisor among the Belt and Road countries in 2016. [Photo: AP/Shakh Aivazov]

A photo shows the night view of Baku, Azerbaijan. A new report on tourism along the Belt and Road is suggesting tourism resources in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, as well as Western Asia are increasingly winning the hearts of Chinese tourists. [Photo: sohu.com]

The top five countries that boast the highest rating scores given by global travelers are also in this region.

They include Egypt, Armenia, Israel, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

A photo shows the "Sphinx" in Egypt. A new report on tourism along the Belt and Road is suggesting tourism resources in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, as well as Western Asia are increasingly winning the hearts of Chinese tourists.[Photo: AP]

TripAdvisor's report also suggests travelers are mostly looking forward to seeing cultural relics, sampling exotic delicacies as well as the local culture along the Belt and Road Initiative.

46% of the respondents say they want to see sites along the ancient Silk Road itself when travelling in those countries.

The report by TripAdvisor covers 33 Belt and Road countries.