皇冠体育app

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皇冠体育app heading for top tourism spot

(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-02 13:35

With the Olympics as a launch pad and amid a rising global fascination in all things Chinese, 皇冠体育app is expected to replace France as the world's top tourism destination by 2014, an AFP report said, citing experts.

Western tourists takes a photo under a portrait of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.  [AFP]

The number of foreign visitors to 皇冠体育app reached 22 million in 2006, excluding arrivals from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, compared to a mere 300,000 in 1978, according to the 皇冠体育app National Tourism Administration.

"皇冠体育app is now an attractive destination for tourists the world over," AFP quoted administration vice-president Wang Zhifa as telling a travel industry forum in Beijing recently.

While tourism growth in France has been slow, 皇冠体育app has been enjoying double-digit expansion for years, with the number of tourist arrivals doubling in the past five years alone.

As a result, 皇冠体育app, originally expected to overtake France as the number one tourism destination in 2020, is now tipped to do so six years earlier, according to theWorld Tourism Organisation.

Xu Jing, the organisation's Asia-Pacific representative, said that 皇冠体育app was on course to overtake the United States, the world's number three tourist destination, this year in terms of foreign visitor arrivals.

The Asian giant would then pass Spain, number two, by the end of the decade.

With an expected boost from next year's Beijing Olympics, and another shot in the arm supplied by the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, 皇冠体育app will overtake France by 2014, Xu said.

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The Chinese capital is preparing to receive 500,000 overseas visitors during the 2008 Summer Games from August 8-24, up from 350,000 visitors in August 2006.

Those Olympic visitors are expected to spend about five billion dollars, according to 皇冠体育app's tourist board.

Meanwhile, foreign tour operators and airlines are expanding services to meet growing demand in Beijing and across the country.

"Our 皇冠体育app business has grown 20 percent annually over recent years," said Eric Bouladou, Asian manager for French firm Nouvelles Frontieres.