More Travelers from Overseas Visit ChinaChina's tourism business got off to a good start this year, with many provinces paying more attention to the pillar industry in their economic development.Overseas travelers brought the tourism industry US$5.1 billion from January to April, up 18.7 per cent from the same period last year, according to a survey by the China National Tourism Administration. Foreign tourists spent US$2 billion, a 24 per cent increase from the same period of 1999. China received 26.7 million overseas travelers from January to April. Macao sent 3.5 million people, and 19.2 million came from Hong Kong, increasing 21 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. The number of tourists who spent at least one night increased by 17.3 per cent to 9.92 million from January to April, and nearly one-third came from foreign countries. The number of overseas travelers grew by double digits over the January-April period last year, with Asia and Europe leading the other three continents. The number of tourists from Russia, Indonesia and the Republic of Korea grew by 45 per cent, 43 per cent and 42 per cent respectively. Visits from the Philippines, France, Malaysia and Australia all grew by more than 20 per cent from January to April. Those from Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Mongolia, the United States and Germany rose by less than 10 per cent each. |
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