Tourism in Guilin IncreasesChina's popular tourist destination of Guilin, famed for its limestone landscape and diversified ethnic cultures, has witnessed a continuous increase in tourists.The city expects the number of tourists soaring up to 10 million this year, compared to a record 9.63 million in 2000. Guilin, which is trying to promote its international reputation, received some 950,000 overseas travelers last year. The number is expected to exceed one million this year. Eighteen international tourist agencies and 52 domestic tourist agencies have opened businesses in Guilin, which is clustered with 25 hotels with a star rating. Guilin has an annual accommodation capability of over 1 million foreign tourists and 10 million domestic tourists. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are the city's main sources of overseas travelers. They will continue to be the city's targets of overseas tourist promotion activities this year, said Zhong Xinmin, director of the city's bureau of tourism. The city is also one of the primary choices of Taiwan tourists visiting the inland area with the number reaching 430,000 last year, up 47 percent year-on-year. More than 6,000 Taiwan tourists visited Guilin during the Spring Festival holidays from January 24 to 30. To further optimize the tourist attraction, the municipal government of Guilin has approved 2 billion yuan for enhancing the lighting effects of spectacular limestone hills and caves in major tourist spots. Besides the government funding, the city will assimilate overseas investment in the construction of communications, telecommunications, infrastructure renovation in the urban areas and major tourist spots as well as in tourist product development. The city has also planned to establish the country's largest tourist product wholesale market. |
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