The National Tourism Administration (NTA) told the 1st
China Tourism Investment Fair on November 1 that China could
attract more tourists than anywhere else in the world in 2017,
three years earlier than the UN World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO)'s forecast.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the UNWTO
previously predicted China would receive 137 million overnight
inbound tourists in 2020.
"The goal may be achieved three years in advance,"
Zhang Jilin, deputy director of the NTA's Planning, Development and
Financial Department, told the fair's attendees in Ningbo City,
east China's Zhejiang Province.
The mainland received 41.76 million overseas
overnight tourists last year, ranking fourth in the world, and
tourism revenue was US$25.7 billion, seventh in the world,
according to a report issued by the NTA.
The number of Chinese tourists traveling nationwide
reached 1.1 billion last year, 27 percent more than the previous
year.
The report also said that about 28.85 million
Chinese people traveled overseas last year, making China the
largest source of tourists in Asia.
Gu Chaoxi, NTA deputy director, was also very
optimistic about China's tourism, "China is forging ahead toward
becoming a world tourism power."
In the first eight months of this year, the number
of outbound tourists totaled 20.46 million, a year-on-year increase
of 10 percent. It is estimated that the number of outbound Chinese
tourists will reach 50 million by 2010.
Tourist arrivals to China from January to August
came to 30.89 million, up 15 percent over the same period last
year.
Currently, more than 6 million people work in
China's tourism sector and the number is expected to increase by
more than 500,000 annually over the next five years, the NTA
said.
Gu said it is predicted that China's investment in
the industry will amount to 1.9 trillion yuan (US$235 billion) by
2010 and will exceed 6 trillion yuan (US$742 billion) by 2020.
The Xinhua report did not account for the
difference between the two organizations’ predictions.
(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2005)