Chinese scenic spots are increasing, CNTA official

Director of the Program Development and Financial Department at the China National Tourism Administration Wu Wenxue said recently that China not only has rich tourist resources, but it also has numerous scenic spots. The large number of scenic spots is instrumental in laying a solid foundation for China to become a large tourist country but it also helps it to become a strong tourist country as well.

He made the statement while attending a forum on scenic spot development and management held in Beijing last Thursday.

At present, China has more than 20,000 scenic spots of various kinds across the country, which generates 80 billion yuan of tourist revenue every year and attract 10 million people to work in this sector. The abundant scenic spots have become one of the three main production factors in the tourism industry, along with travel agencies and hotels, the official said.

When China developed its tourism industry in the early stage, it tried to exploit those World Cultural Heritage Sites for inbound tourists. As domestic tourism industry, especially the holiday tourism industry, develops rapidly, more and more scenic spots are opened to domestic travelers and the tourist revenues now mainly come from these domestic travelers, too.

Not long ago, the World Tourism Organization predicted that by 2020, China will become the world’s largest tourist destination and one of the major tourist sources in the world.