China to be world's #1 tourist
destination by 2017
NINGBO
- China will become the world's #1 tourist
destination in 2017, three years earlier than
forecast by the World Tourism Organization (WTO),
according to a Chinese tourist official. The WTO
has predicted that China will receive 137 million
overnight inbound tourists in 2020, thus becoming
the world's largest tourist destination.
"But the goal may be achieved three years
[earlier than expected], according to calculations
by the National Tourism Administration (NTA) based
on the booming [tourism] industry in
China," said Zhang Jilin,
deputy director of the NTA's Planning, Development
and Financial Department, at an investment fair
for tourism held in Ningbo, a city in east China's
Zhejiang province, on
November 1.
Official statistics show that
China received 41.76 million overseas tourists who
spent at least one night on the Chinese mainland
last year, ranking fourth in the world. Tourism
revenue hit US$25.7 billion, ranking seventh in
the world, according to a report about China's
tourism investment issued by the NTA in Ningbo.
The number of Chinese tourists traveling
nationwide reached 1.1 billion last year, 27% 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. "China is forging
ahead toward becoming a world tourism power,"said
NTA deputy director Gu Chaoxi.
Statistics
show that in the first eight months of this year,
the number of outbound tourists totaled 20.46
million, a year-on-year increase of 10%. It is
estimated that the number of outbound Chinese
tourists will reach 50 million by 2010. Tourist
arrivals to China from January to August hit 30.89
million, up 15% over last year's same period. "To
go faster, it is imperative for China to build
strong links between its rich tourism resources
and affluent social capital," said Gu.
Currently, more than 6 million people work
in the tourism sector in China and and the number
is expected to increase by more than 500,000
annually over the next five years, NTA statistics
indicate. It has been predicted that China's
investment in the tourism industry will amount to
1.9 trillion yuan ($235.5 billion) by 2010 and
will exceed 6 trillion yuan by 2020, Gu said.
