As the number of tourists slumps across Asia and even the world,
Chinese travelers began to exhibit unprecedented enthusiasm for
tourism during the past week-long National Day holidays.
The number of tourists in 87 major scenic spots across the country
reached 9.86 million last week, with ticket incomes surpassing 270
million yuan. Meanwhile, tourists witnessed a good tourism order,
with no serious accident reported during the period.
"Chinese people have celebrated a safe golden tourism week," said
Li Renzhi, director general of Industry Management Department of
China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).
The Chinese government has paid great attention to tourism safety.
In September, the CNTA began to cooperate with different ministries
in maintaining the tourism order and inspect several areas
including Hainan and Hunan provinces, and the Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region.
"We really enjoyed ourselves in
Sanya city. Before we came, some friends were a bit worried
about our safety. But when we said we were traveling to China, they
were more assured," said Bob Lee, a Canadian tourist, in China's
southern Hainan Province.
Li
Renzhi said that China considers safety as the lifeline of tourism
industry. To enhance the safety awareness will help build up
tourists' confidence from home and abroad.
Francisco, a Spanish representative taking part in the World
Tourism Day conference in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province,
said that safety can not only promote the development of tourism
itself but also draw more investment to the industry.
"The tense international situation has not yet posed a threat to
China's tourism industry," said Mike Sharrocks, representative of
the World Tourism Organization.
In
the first eight months, China received 21 million international
tourist arrivals, up 11.4 percent compared with the same period of
last year.
(China Daily
10/10/2001)