China's total income from tourism is predicted to reach 600 billion yuan (US$75 billion) in 2003, up 8.5 percent from 2002.
The goal for 2003 is to receive 100 million inbound tourists, including 14 million foreigners, said He Guangwei, director of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
The income from foreign tourism is expected to reach US$21.5 billion. Domestic travelers will number 900 million, with domestic tourism generating an income of 425 billion yuan (US$53 billion).
China will further promote inbound tourism this year, seeking tourists especially from the United States, Germany and India, He said during the CNTA's three-day annual meeting that opened yesterday in Hangzhou.
The 15th meeting of the World Tourism Organization will be held for the first time in China from October 17 to 24 this year.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and over 70 government ministers and 1,000 industry representatives will attend the meeting.
He said the meeting would provide a good opportunity for China to show its latest tourism achievements.
The theme for 2003 tourism is "cuisine travel." Different areas of China will tailor tourism products to this theme.
China will also promote the broader growth of domestic tourism and improve service quality.
The country's total income from tourism reached 553 billion yuan (US$70 billion) in 2002, up 10.7 per cent compared with the previous year. Inbound, outbound and domestic tourism all reached new heights.
China received 98 million inbound tourists, up 10.1 per cent compared with the previous year. Some 13.75 million foreigners came to China last year, up 22 per cent. Earnings from foreign tourism surpassed US$20 billion for the first time, up 14.6 per cent on the previous year. While China's domestic tourists numbered 870 million in 2002, up 11 per cent from the previous year, with domestic tourism income reaching 384.5 billion yuan (US$48 billion), up 9.2 per cent, He said.
He said that Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States were the four biggest sources of tourists to China, with more than 1 million visitors from each last year.
(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2003)
