By Hao Zhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-08-03 15:33

The Chinese inbound tourism market enjoyed a delightful rise in the first half this year, revealed statistics from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

The nation received a total of 63.37 million tourists in the first half, up 4.22 percent year-on-year. Of them, 12.12 million travelers were from foreign countries, climbing up 18.47 percent compared with a year before. Some 37.23 million were from Hong Kong, up 4.22 percent; 11.74 million from Macao, up 0.56 percent; and 2.28 million from Taiwan, up 8.74 percent.

Some 25.9 million sight seers traveled throughout the Chinese mainland for at least two days, up 10.25 percent year-on-year. Of them, 9.91 million were foreigners, up 19.70 percent; 12.12 million from Hong Kong, up 4.89 percent; and 1.98 million from Macao, roughly the same from Taiwan, up 3.47 and 8.44 percent respectively.

Between January and June, the number of tourists from 16 foreign countries went up. Specifically, the number of travelers from South Korea soared 30.26 percent year-on-year, India 16.48 percent, Russia 15.74 percent, Philippines 15.63 percent, Canada 15.02 percent, France 14.59 percent, Australia 14.34 percent, Indonesia 13.92 percent, Singapore 12.92 percent, Germany 12.65 percent, Malaysia 12.00 percent, Japan 11.90 percent, Britain 10.90 percent, the United States 10.77 percent, Thailand 1.40 percent and Mongolia 0.02 percent.

In the first six months this year, Chinese tourism gained a total of US$17.94 billion in foreign exchange, a surge of 13.10 percent compared with a year before. Some US$16.45 billion, or 91.74 percent, came from visitors who stayed for more than one day, and the remaining US$1.48 billion came from those who visited for only one day.

Considering the tourists' sources, overseas visitors in total spent US$1.25 billion, or 57.15 percent of the combined expenses of all travelers, up 19.64 percent from the same period last year. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan's brethrens spent US$3.93 billion, US$1.4 billion and US$2.36 billion respectively, growing 4.68 percent, 7.81 percent and 8.45 percent respectively.

In June alone, China welcomed a total of 10.67 million inbound tourists, up 6.47 percent year-on-year, and the national tourism revenue reached US$3.13 billion, up 13.19 percent compared with a year before.