China's tourism industry will see robust growth and continue to be a cornerstone of the nation's economy and a major source of job creation over the next decade, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

"China has the potential to become one of the world's great tourism economies in terms of inbound, domestic and outbound travel," said a WTTC report released yesterday to highlight the economic impact of travel and tourism on the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Despite the outbreak of SARS earlier this year, China's travel and tourism sectors are on track for a rapid rebound.

"China's travel and tourism industries are expected to generate 1,536.7 billion yuan (US$183.6 billion) of economic activity in 2004," said Richard Miller, vice-president of WTTC's Research and Economics Unit.

The report said the sector will see a year-on-year 21.3 percent increase in employment to 13.61 million in 2004, taking some 1.9 percent of the country's total employment.

However, since travel and tourism touch all sectors of the economy, the real impact is even greater, said the report.

Its contribution to China's gross domestic product (GDP) will hit 289.2 billion yuan (US$34.5 billion), equivalent to 2.3 percent of China's total GDP, a figure that is still much lower than that of developed economies.

"This indicates that China still has great growth potential in this arena," said WTTC president Jean-Claude Baumgarten.

Launched in 1990, the WTTC is the business leaders' forum for travel and tourism, working with governments to raise awareness of the importance of one of the world's largest generators of wealth and jobs.

"Despite SARS, the baseline forecasts for China are staggering," said Baumgarten. "Over the next 10 years the growth of travel and tourism demand in China is expected to make it the fourth fastest growing travel and tourism economy in the world."

(China Daily October 14, 2003)