Shanghai will increase the number of hotels in the city by more than 10 percent next year to make room for more tourists from both inside the country and overseas, local tourism authorities announced yesterday.

The number of hotels will be increased to around 470 by the end of next year from the current 423, with the number of guest rooms rising to 75,000 from 68,000 at present, according to the Shanghai Tourism Administrative Commission.

The commission expects more than 4 million overseas tourists will stay at least one night in the city next year, an increase of 11 percent from this year.

The number of domestic tourists visiting Shanghai will also rise by 5 percent, hitting 90 million.

"It will be a year full of challenge and opportunities for us," the commission said in a statement.

The commission estimates that the added value of tourism next year will account for 6.8 percent of the city's total GDP.

The city has seen a large boom in inbound tourism so far this year.

By tomorrow, 4.8 million overseas tourists will have visited the city this year, of whom 3.6 million spent at least one night, a nearly 50 percent increase from last year.

The total income from the tourism industry will rise by 12 percent from last year to hit 140 billion yuan (US$17 billion), of which tourism revenues in foreign currencies will hit US$3 billion this year.

To attract more tourists, the city will expand its ties with more than 50 cities in other countries and hold Shanghai Weeks in cities like Milan, Italy, the commission said.

(Shanghai Daily December 30, 2004)