An aerial drone photo taken on March 29, 2024 shows tourists taking bamboo rafts on the Yulong River in Yangshuo County, Guilin City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

A new direct air route was launched on Wednesday linking Guilin, a renowned resort city in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with Surabaya in Indonesia, marking the second air route between Guilin and Indonesia, according to local authorities in Guilin.

The maiden flight QG8830 brought the first batch of 168 inbound visitors from Surabaya to Guilin's Liangjiang international airport early on Wednesday morning.

Indonesia is an important source of inbound tourism for Guilin, and Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city.

Since the air service between Guilin and Jakarta, Indonesia, was first launched in 2016, the number of Indonesian tourists visiting Guilin has risen sharply. The new route is expected to attract more Indonesian visitors to the resort city and help Guilin better build itself into a world-class tourism destination, according to the municipal culture, radio, television and tourism bureau of Guilin.