Beijing ups tourism investment to over 1 billion yuan a year

BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- According to Ding Xiangyang, the vice mayor of Beijing, the Beijing municipal government is planning to invest more than 1 billion yuan into the Chinese capital's tourism sector per year, starting in 2011.

Ding said that the Beijing Tourism Development Committee will be established to coordinate the development of the city's tourism sector, and the committee and Beijing Tourism Bureau will have separate remits.

In addition, the municipal government will launch a special fund to offer stronger support for the city's tourism sector. So far, the city has raised funds for a total of 767 tourism projects, with an investment of 27.32 billion yuan.

According to Ding, Beijing is aiming to generate more than $10 billion in inbound tourism revenue, and will receive 10 million inbound tourists and 200 million domestic tourists. In the meantime, the tourism sector's industrial added-value is expected to account for more than 10 percent of the city's GDP.

In 2010, Beijing's total visitor arrivals rose 10.3 percent year on year to a record 184 million, and its tourism revenue rose 13.3 percent year on year to a record 27.68 billion yuan.

 (Source: Global Times)