East China's coastal Shandong Province reported 30.7 billion yuan of income from tourism last year, a 16.43 percent rise over the 1998 figure and the highest growth rate in the past 10 years.

This total income includes US$ 265 million of foreign currency the province earned from some 622,000 overseas tourists.

The number of domestic tourists visiting the province hit 64.29million in 1999, a 10 percent rise on a yearly basis.

Last year, tourism accounted for 3.9 percent of the local GDP in Shandong, a renowned tourist destination rich in mountain and coastal scenery, cultural sites, folk customs, and ecological holiday resorts.