Beijing's Overseas Tourists Historical HighBeijing hosted 1.24 million overseas tourists in the first half of this year, up 18 percent from the same period last year, the city's tourism bureau said.Foreign tourists showed a noticeable increase of 22 percent, reaching 1.05 million. Tourists from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan chalked an increase of 5.45 percent in the same period. Several factors are considered to have contributed to the growing of tourists in Beijing. they include the improvement of world economy, the continuous growing momentum of North American and European economies and the high growth rate of Asian economy. Beijing staged a series of business and cultural events in the first six months such as the auto show, international music festival and new and hi-tech industries week, which are attractive to tourists, the city tourism official said. The city's successful promotion activities in key countries like Japan, France and Germany also contribute to the growth. Tourists from the three countries reported rises of 31 percent, 36 percent and 20 percent respectively, higher than other foreign countries. Local official predicted that Beijing will receive a total of 2.8 million overseas tourists in the year. |
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