How important is tourism? Note the Olympic Games have not started nor yet Expo 2010. Both will pull in the punters by the many million. But even without out those China’s tourism industry is doing pretty well.

According to statistics from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) it generated $17.94 billion in foreign currencies in the first half of this year which is up 13.1% from a year earlier.

CNTA data showed that 91.74% of the total tourism forex revenue was generated by tourists who spent at least one night in China.

More than 12.12 million foreigners came to the Chinese mainland for sightseeing, up 18.47% from a year earlier. The growth rate more than tripled the 6.1% increase for all inbound tourists to the Chinese mainland, which came to 63.37 million.
Source: China Daily