A scene from the women's semifinal at the China Open in Beijing on October 4, 2025 Photo: VCG

As international tennis tournaments multiply across China this autumn, organizers are increasingly looking beyond the court, seeking to turn a trip to a tournament into a broader travel experience.

The 2026 Chinese tennis season, starting in September, will bring a series of international events to cities including Chengdu, Hangzhou and Suzhou besides flagship events in Beijing and Shanghai. 

The growing concentration of tournaments is giving Chinese cities a chance to connect sporting events with local consumption, cultural activities and tourism.

Shanghai offers perhaps the clearest example of how that strategy is developing.

In 2025, the Shanghai Masters attracted more than 250,000 spectators, with about 10 percent coming from overseas and 60 percent from outside Shanghai, according to the Shanghai municipal government. The tournament also generated more than 100 million yuan ($14.8 million) in ticket revenue. 

The figures have encouraged organizers and city authorities to think beyond the traditional model of selling a ticket to a tennis match. 

During this year's Shanghai Masters, ticket packages will include options combining matches with direct transportation, family experiences and visits to other Shanghai attractions, the organizers have announced. 

The approach fits into Shanghai's broader effort to use major sporting events to attract international visitors. 

The experience in Shanghai suggests that the relationship between tennis and tourism can work in both directions: a tournament brings people to a city, while the city gives spectators reasons to stay longer and spend money beyond the stadium.

For host cities, making tennis more than a sporting event can also serve as a platform for destination marketing, particularly when the event attracts an international audience.

Sports tourism can offer cities something that conventional sightseeing does not, according to tennis commentator Chen Chi.

"Tennis events can activate destinations and build recognizable identities," Chen told the Global Times. "The international player base and global fan following of tennis give host cities an audience well beyond their local audiences, which is widely seen at the Grand Slam events."

The challenge now is to make those visitors stay longer and explore more of the host city. That is where the "ticket plus" model comes in.

Rather than simply asking visitors to buy a match ticket, organizers are increasingly packaging the tournament with hotels, transportation, attractions and other experiences.

Foreign tourists wearing traditional Chinese hanfu visit Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province. Photo: VCG

Culture matters

In Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, organizers of the WTA 125 Suzhou Open are trying to connect the tournament with the city's existing cultural resources. 

Zhou Yunsong, tournament director of the Suzhou Open, said the timing gives spectators an opportunity to combine a tennis trip with a holiday as it partially overlaps with the annual National Day holidays.

"For our spectators, this is a rare opportunity to combine watching tennis with travel. For domestic tennis fans, they don't have to take time off work as they normally would," Zhou told the Global Times. 

The tournament venue, the Yangcheng Lake International Tennis Center, is located near several cultural and commercial areas in Suzhou.

The event has also introduced a hotel-and-tennis package, while organizers have arranged cultural experiences for players, including visits to Suzhou's gardens and local cultural venues.

"To give players an immersive experience of Suzhou's charm, we have planned a range of cultural activities, including visits to the Suzhou Museum, tasting authentic Suzhou cuisine, listening to Kunqu Opera, trying on traditional Chinese qipao and visiting embroidery workshops," Zhou noted. 

Zhou sees a broader change in the way people plan trips.

"Traveling to sporting events is becoming a choice for more and more people," he said. "In the past, tourism was about sightseeing - going to a destination, taking photos and checking in. Now, especially among younger generations, people are more inclined to take themed trips."

The idea, he said, is to use the tournament as the starting point for a much wider city experience.

"We hope Suzhou can, with the professional tournament at its core, connect all of Suzhou's tourism resources, including its food, gardens, water towns and shopping, so that visitors can travel around the city for the sake of one match."

Players as ambassadors

For international tennis, this model has another potential advantage: The players themselves can become part of a city's tourism promotion.

Beijing, for instance, is bringing the players themselves into the tourism story. Li Xuhua, general manager of the China Open, said the tournament plans to give players more opportunities to experience the city.

Current world No.1 Jannik Sinner is among the players who are invited to participate in a hutong (traditional alleyway) tour during his stay in Beijing, Li told the Global Times. 

The China Open is also expanding its off-site activities this year. 

Li said the tournament will work with the local government to establish more match-watching venues in major commercial areas, allowing people to experience the tournament outside the main tennis center.

"The information from the tennis court can go out and reach people around the city," Li said. 

For organizers such as Li, the goal is to make the tournament a broader part of the city's cultural and public life.

"We want this rare tennis carnival to be richer and more colorful, and to give fans more time to experience the appeal of tennis," Li said.

The emerging model is still at an early stage as different event organizers are exploring their own strategies. But the direction is becoming clearer: Tournaments are being used not only to fill seats in stadiums, but also to promote cities as travel destinations.