East China`s Zhejiang Province with renowned scenic spots like the West Lake earned 76.7 billion yuan in …
East China`s Zhejiang Province with renowned scenic spots like the West Lake earned 76.7 billion yuan in (9.24 billion dollars) tourism revenue in 2003, up 8.1 percent year-on-year, according to the local tourism administration.
Tourism contributed 8.34 percent of the local gross domestic product in 2003, said Ji Genli, director of the administration, ata local tourism work conference held Tuesday.
The province reported 1.8 million overseas arrivals in 2003, down 11.5 percent year-on-year, who spent 872 million US dollars of foreign exchange, down 6 percent. The decreases were due to theoutbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), said Ji.
However, domestic arrivals in the province went up 5.1 percent to 84.29 million, with spending rising by 9.7 percent to 69.5 billion yuan (8.4 billion dollars).
Effective emergency measures ensured Zhejiang to be one of the safer places to tour in China in 2003, said Ji, adding that local tourism had rebounded since June 2003 along with the recovery in the region and the county as a whole.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
