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The ongoing US-led war against Iraq is having a strong impact on the Beijing tourism sector, with recent business taxes from the sector down by 40 percent, or five million yuan (US$600,000), a spokesman with the Beijing Taxation Bureau said.
To date, more than 10,000 people have cancelled their bookings for overseas trips with the China International Travel Service Head Office and China Travel Service Head Office, accounting for 20 percent of the total number.
There has also been a slump in overseas tourists traveling to Beijing, mainly from the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary and Italy.
The world tourism industry is predicted to lose US$30 billion and three million jobs if the war in Iraq lasts longer than expected, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
(eastday.com March 28, 2003)
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