Official participation

In addition to pop stars, local tourism officials have joined the battle to attract visitors. On Saturday, Wang Dianyou, head of Harbin's Acheng district culture and tourism bureau, performed a hit dance at Harbin Ice and Snow World.

In Zhangjiajie, Hunan, Peng Zhenhua, head of the Wulingyuan district culture, tourism, radio and television bureau, danced with several young men wearing local costumes.

Both videos attracted a considerable number of online views. While some netizens were not so appreciative of the two officials' awkward dance moves, they valued the efforts made by officials to win them over.

Netizens are also joining the competition to attract visitors.

In Sichuan province, known for its giant panda bases, people jokingly claimed that the head of the local culture and tourism bureau has the extraordinary ability to give birth to pandas.

Meanwhile, netizens in Hunan, which is known for its spicy dishes, boasted that the local culture and tourism head can eat 50 kilograms of red peppers, while those in Jiangxi province claimed the culture and tourism head can swim several laps of Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China.

Wei Changren, founder of btiii.com, a tourism-related financial news portal, said the videos and online banter show that local authorities and people have made great efforts to revive the tourism sector.

"As long as the videos are not vulgar and do not violate laws and regulations, we should applaud these efforts for being creative and using thinking outside the box, which are not always local governments' strengths," he said.

If a city is to become a hot tourism destination for the long term, it needs to give full play to its unique strengths and characteristics, and stand out from its competitors in order to attract visitors repeatedly, Wei added.

He added that winter is not the best season for traveling in many areas of China, so not all places are able to emulate Harbin's success.

However, if netizens remember certain content from the videos and want to visit the city in the future, then such footage has achieved its goal, Wei said.

Apart from online promotion, which has become increasingly essential in the age of social media, it is equally important for local authorities to improve their tourism services and infrastructure, and make their cities hospitable for travelers, he added.