Tax refunds to lure overseas tourists

Average spending on shopping per stay was $252.40, with each stay averaging 4.22 days.

"Foreign tourists, although accounting for only 1.79 percent of the total, contributed 7.49 percent of tourism revenue last year," Yang said.

While tourist arrivals from Asia dropped by 15.3 percent and those from Europe by 9.7 percent, the proportion coming to Beijing from Africa grew by 9.4 percent.

The United States was the biggest source of foreign tourists in Beijing, with 747,000 visitors arriving last year, followed by 369,800 from South Korea.

About 249,000 Japanese visited Beijing, a fall of 43.1 percent from the previous year. The decline was mainly because of worsening relations between the two countries over territorial disputes.

Compared with other regions in China, Beijing was among the most severely hit by the decline in inbound tourism.

Statistics from the National Tourism Administration show that China received more than 55.68 million overnight inbound visits last year, a fall of 3.5 percent.

The Beijing commission blamed a weak global economy, a stronger yuan, visa obstacles and heavy pollution in Beijing for the drop in foreign tourists.

In the latter half of 2013, with the city's air quality improving, there was "positive growth" in the number of inbound tourists, it said.

Commission chief Zhou said that despite the challenges, Beijing will witness a better inbound tourism performance.

The capital will further promote its image in traditional tourist origin countries, including those in Europe, while further tapping emerging markets like Australia and India, he said.

It is aiming for a 9 percent growth in tourists and revenue in 2014.