China’s tourism revenue is expected to rise 3% this year to RMB1.2 trillion ($175.6 billion) as rising domestic travel offsets falling international tourism.
Revenue from international visitors is expected to fall 5% to $35 billion, while domestic receipts are forecast to rise 8% to RMB950 billion according to a published report by the China Tourism Academy, a tourism research institute under the National Tourism Administration.
The report said China expected to see 124 million inbound trips this year, also down 5% from a year earlier. However, the number of inbound tours longer than one night is expected to drop 10% to 48.2 million.
TravelBiz Monitor.com quoted Dai Bin, Deputy Director, China Tourism Academy, who said that the inbound sector was unlikely to recover in the second half, having declined 5% in the first six months of 2009. He added, however, that tourism authorities have launched a series of stimulus plans to boost domestic tourism, such as the issuing of tourism coupons, which have helped buoy domestic tourism.