National Tourism Income to Hit $15.5bChina's tourism industry has maintained strong growth in receiving overseas tourists and getting more revenue from domestic tourists, a senior official from the China National Tourism Administration said in Shanghai on Wednesday.Speaking at the opening ceremony of 2000 China International Travel Mart in Shanghai Wednesday, Sun Gang, deputy director of the administration, said overseas visitors to China are expected to number 78 million, including 29 million overnight tourists, by the end of the year. Foreign currency income from the industry is expected to be US$15.5 billion by the end of the year. Domestic tourists are expected to total 750 million people by the end of this year. Domestic tourism revenue is expected to reach 330 billion yuan (US$39.8 billion), Sun said. "Total tourism revenue will amount to 450 billion yuan (US$54.3 billion) this year. These achievements serve as a solid basis for China's development of the tourism industry in the coming century,'' Sun said. Official statistics from the tourism administration indicate that from January to August, overseas arrivals hit 55.1 million, a 16.5 per cent increase over the same period last year. Overnight visitors counted for 20.6 million of that number, up 17.5 per cent over the same period in 1999. Domestic tourism is also booming as more people decide to travel during their holiday. During the National Day holiday, October 1-7, domestic tourists reached 59.8 million, generating 23 billion yuan (US$2.77 billion). Sponsored by the China National Tourism Administration and the Shanghai municipal government, the four-day travel mart was designed to provide a chance for participants in the tourism industry to do business together and explore co-operation opportunities, according to Sun. More than 7,000 officials and business people attended yesterday's opening ceremony, including: Vice-Premier Qian Qichen, Director General of the tourism administration He Guangwei, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization Frangialli, and ministers of tourism from Thailand.html target=_blank>Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia and other countries. Forty-two countries and regions are participating in the travel mart, an increase of 16 from the first meeting in 1998. |
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