Guangdong Province's tourism, ravaged by the spread of SARS last year, is looking to foreign students to play a major part in the industry's rebound.

"We'll take study tours as opportunities to try to boost our in-bound tourism," said Su Jianhe, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration.

The province's tourism revenue totalled 132.5 billion yuan (US$15.4 billion) last year, down 9.68 per cent over the previous year after registering a fall of 16.2 per cent in 2002.

But despite the decline, Guangdong was still a standout in China as it raked in one-third of the nation's total tourism revenue in 2002 and 2001.

"We are optimistic that we can get back on track to reach our past highs," said Zheng Tongyang, director of the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration.

Japan is regarded as one of the best sources of tourism revenue for the province.

About 30 managers from JTB, one of the biggest travel agencies in Japan, have been invited to Guangdong this month so they can become more familiar with the province's attractions.

And another group, comprising 200 middle school teachers from Japan, is expected to arrive in the province later in the year as part in a study tour. It is estimated that about 40,000 Japanese students take part in Chinese study tours each year. Guangdong has been hosting Japanese students since the early 1990s.

(China Daily March 16, 2004)