In the National Tourism Conference held in Beijing on January 11, 2001, Shantou City was named one of the second batch of excellent tourism cities in China. Qian Qishen (a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Vice Premier of the State Council) and the Chief of the National Tourism Administration granted plaques to the second batch of excellent tourism cities in China, and Wang Yun, the Deputy Mayor of Shantou City, received this "Golden Plaque" for Shantou City. The title of "Excellent Tourism City in China" was another honorable national title won by Shantou City after its winning of the titles of "National Model City in Supporting Army and Government", "National Hygienic City" and "National Environmental Protection Model City". This title signifies a step further in Shantou＇s two civilization construction. The efforts made by tourism cities nationwide to become excellent tourism cities prove to be rewarding. After the first batch of 54 excellent tourism cities in China were named in 1999, 127 cities nationwide had applied for the title of "Excellent Tourism City". Sixty-eight cities won the title, including 6 cities in Guangdong Province which were ranked among the top 10 cities with high scores. In 41 prefecture-level cities, Shantou City was ranked the 7th.

Source: Shantou Tourism Bureau

 　　2001年1月11日在北京召开的全国旅游工作会议上，我市被命名为第二批中国优秀旅游城市。中共中央政治局委员、国务院副总理钱其琛，国家旅游局局长等为第二批中国优秀旅游城市授牌，汕头市副市长王芸为我市领回了这块“金字招牌”。 “中国优秀旅游城市”称号是我市荣获“全国双拥模范城”、“国家卫生城市”和“国家环保模范城市”后，又一项国家级荣誉称号，标志着我市两个文明建设再上一个台阶。“创优”在全国各旅游城市开展以来，取得明显效果，继1999年命名了首批54个中国优秀旅游城市后，全国又有127个城市报名参加“创优”，第二批通过验收的有68个城市，其中广东省有6个城市，全部高分进入前10名，汕头市在41个地级市中，分数列第7位。

来源：市旅游局