A statistical report provided by Zhejiang Tourism Bureau recently indicates that Zhejiang has been witnessing an unprecedented growth in tourism in the first six months of the year, with the number of inbound tourists reaching 625,000 and the tourism income US$ 284 million, up 24.7 and 5.5 percent respectively over the same period last year.

Compared with previous years, Zhejiang's inbound tourist market has entered a track of virtuous circle this year and the structure of tourists has seen visible change,

The number of tourists from Janpan, U.S. and Austraila have witnessed rapid growth, of which the number of tourists from Australia topped 30 per cent and that from the U.S. 25 per cent.

The time that inbound tourists keep staying in the province increased by 0.41 day from the 2.44 days the same period last year.

Industrial insiders attibute the sharp growth in the tourism industry of the coastal province to the increasingly intensified efforts the province has made to hold promotions on tourism abroad over the past six months of the year.

(www. cnzj.org.cn 08/05/2001)