China seeks ways to change tourism patterns

China's tourism industry has seen huge progress after three decades of development. But it's still searching for ways to revise its patterns and to upgrade itelf. As DENG WEI tells us, China is aiming to become the world's largest inbound destination for tourists.

The National Tourism Administration says China's tourism industry has achieved large scale development.

In 2008, travellers on domestic tours made some 1.7 billion visits. That's up 6 percent from the year before. Although the number of inbound tourists slid a bit to 53 million, the number of outbound tourists attained 12 percent growth, reaching 45 million.

And the tourism industry achieved 1.14 trillion yuan in total revenues in 2008.

Meanwhile, the number of scenic spots remained at nearly 20-thousand. And a total of 15-thousand star hotels were operational, nationwide.

Shao Qiwei, director, said, national tourism admin, said, "Large scale doesn't necessarily mean high quality. We will change the development patterns of the tourism industry from quantity expansion... to quality improvement. By doing so, the sector will be able to achieve better profits and sustainable development. And this will in turn help boost the overall economy in China."

China's tourism authorities have expressed their confidence about the strong growth in the country's tourism industry. They say China's thirty years of reform and opening-up has established a solid foundation for the sector's development.

Shao Qiwei also predicts that after another decade of efforts, China will likely become the world's largest inbound tourism country. And the world's fourth largest... outbound tourism country.