China expects tourism boom for week-long holiday

Hot air balloons begin to take to the air over the Hamilton Lake on the opening day of Balloons Over Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, March 22, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

BEIJING - China is expecting a tourism boom for the upcoming National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, projecting double-digit growth in tourism revenue.

From Oct 1 to 8, around 710 million trips will be made, with national tourism revenue reaching 590 billion yuan ($90 billion), up 10 percent and 12.2 percent respectively on the same period last year, according to predictions by the China National Tourism Administration.

Popular destinations in China include Sanya in the southern province of Hainan, Beijing, Kunming and Lanzhou, according to a survey by Ctrip, China's leading online travel agency.

Of those surveyed, 16.4 percent chose to spend their holidays overseas.

National Day is on Oct 1 and is celebrated with a week-long holiday. Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Oct 4 this year.

China attaches great importance to tourism development for its contribution to consumption and employment, supporting economic growth and facilitating exchanges between countries.

China's domestic tourism industry earned about 3.9 trillion yuan in 2016, and the country plans to raise tourism revenue to 7 trillion yuan by 2020.

The nation will work to develop tourism into a major driver of economic transformation. By 2020, investment in tourism is expected to grow to 2 trillion yuan, and the sector will contribute more than 12 percent of GDP growth, according to a State Council five-year tourism plan (2016-2020).