News from the Mianyang Tourism Bureau of Sichuan province is a reconstruction plan for the city's tourism which was damaged by 2008 earthquake.

The general goal of the reconstruction plan is said to create a world-class earthquake relic site, recover the Qiang and Tibetan culture as well as other tourism resources, and build Mianyang into a first class travel destination that combines sightseeing, meeting, leisure, and holiday facilities.

According to the plan, 93 travel projects will be revived with a total expenditure of more than 50 billion yuan. Of these 60 are key projects that have been listed into the reconstruction plan of Sichuan province.

It is learned that up to 200,000 tourists visited Beichuan, Mianyang, during the Spring Festival of 2009. A pilot program is expected to be in place soon. Then tourists will be able to visit the region in groups with government-approved travel agencies.

Mianyang's tourism industry suffered a loss of up to 6 billion yuan as a result of the earthquake which hit the city on May 12, 2008, with its road, tourism signs, tourist service centers, hotels and travel agencies receiving different degrees of damage.

(China Hospitality News February 25, 2009)