17:06, May 04, 2009

During the shortened "Labor Day" holidays this year, the total number of tourists in Beijing and the city's overall revenue from tourism both skyrocketed by a huge margin year-on-year.
Tourism-related consumption exceeded 420 million yuan, a 40 percent increase year-on-year; and 1.67 million Beijingers toured in Beijing, 25 percent more than last year, according to information released on May 3 by the Beijing Tourism Administration,
There was a notably sharp increase in visitors, compared with the same period last year, at famous tourist attractions such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall at Badaling and the Summer Palace.
According to the latest statistics, the Forbidden City received a total number of more than 200,000 visitors, an increase of over 20 percent year-on-year; the Great Wall at Badaling received 170,000 visitors, an increase of 46 percent year-on-year; and the Summer Palace received 173,000 visitors, an increase of 36 percent year-on-year.
To increase domestic demand, the Beijing Tourism Administration launched a series of tourist-interactive activities during the "Labor Day" holidays, including a regional tour program featuring "Tour Beijing and Tianjin via the High-speed Railway," a tourism plan for Chinese nationals with "Recollect the Olympic Games and Realize a Dream in Beijing" as its theme, a group of activities entitled "Beijing Impressions – Taking Photos in Beijing, Talking about Beijing, Singing in Beijing and Painting in Beijing" and other tourist-interactive activities in various forms, with a view to encouraging more Beijingers to go out and participate in the holiday activities.
As the type A swine influenza, subtype H1N1, outbreak continues to spread, many Beijingers have cut down on their outing plans this year and instead focused their attention on the suburbs of the city.
This has lead to a sharp increase in the number of tourists at attractions in folk custom villages in districts and counties in the outer suburbs.
According to statistics, the number of tourists involved in folk custom tourist activities in the districts and counties of Beijing's outer suburbs, as well as the revenue generated from such activities, increased substantially during the "Labor Day" holidays, with 1.14 million people taking folk custom tours at villages, a 22 percent increase year-on-year, generating more than 80 million yuan in tourist revenue, a 28 percent increase year-on-year.
During the shortened three-day holidays, no safety accidents or major quality complaints occurred or were filed during the tourism activities in Beijing.
97 percent of tourists were satisfied with the holiday, according to a survey by the Municipal Statistical Information Center.  By People's Daily Online