According to Chen Xianchun, the director of the HR & Education Department of the National Tourism Administration, tourism has developed rapidly in the past 30 years, making China a leading tourism nation rather than a country with rich tourism resources.
China has gained a total income of 1 trillion yuan from tourism in 2007, while the figure in 2002 was 536.6 billion yuan. The number of long-line overseas travelers has also increased from 36.8 million to 53.6 million. The foreign exchange earnings from tourism in 2007 has been $37 billion, while the figure in 2002 was $20.4 billion. So far, China has become the 4th largest tourist destination in the world, and the biggest tourist source in Asia.
The number of star-rated hotels and travel agencies has also greatly increased. Now tourism has become a new backbone of China's economy. It is estimated that tourism will contribute 4.8% of the country's GDP in 2015.
(Chinanews.cn December 14, 2007)