QINGDAO, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Qingdao Liuting International Airport in east China's Shandong Province had seen more than 150,000 tourists as of Tuesday this year, the Qingdao Airport Frontier Inspection Station said.

　　Statistics showed that Taiwan and Hong Kong became the most popular tourism destinations for Chinese mainland tourists at Qingdao Liuting International Airport.

　　The arrival and departure numbers of Chinese and foreign tourists at the airport reached 151,400 as of Dec. 6, up 3.48 percent year-on-year.

　　The total number of arriving and departing tourists in 2011 is expected to surpass 160,000.

　　Qingdao is near the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan, countries that boast close economic and cultural exchanges with China, and the number of tourists that have visited China from these two countries ranked in the top two among other foreign tourist groups.

　　To date, Qingdao Liuting International Airport has launched flights to 11 international and regional destination cities, including Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei.

　　Qingdao Liuting International Airport, which hosts the largest volume of passengers in Shandong, has became an important transport hub linking Japan, the ROK, Hong Kong and Taiwan.