Beijing Receives 170 Million Tourists in 2009

 

(2010-01-29 11:27:01)

China's capital received 170 million tourists at home and from abroad last year, a growth of 14.5 percent year-on-year, according to data released Thursday by the municipal bureau of statistics.

The city's tourism sector garnered 244.21 billion yuan (35.8 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue last year, up 10 percent on the 2008 level.

The total tourists included 160 million from other part of China, up 14.6 percent year-on-year, and 4.13 million from abroad, up 8.8 percent.

Of the overseas arrivals, those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan numbered 696,000, up 60.7 percent, and those from foreign countries reached 3.43 million, up 2.1 percent.

The bureau attributed the growth in tourism to large business promotion campaigns and issue of more than 10,000 free tickets for major sightseeing destinations in the city.