Scenic province has an ambitious tourism plan
By Shen Wei (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2004-06-07 13:37

Zhejiang, a coastal province in eastern China, plans to further open its door to tourists and boost its tourism industry, said a senior official in Hangzhou, the province's capital Sunday, June 6, 2004.

Yao Shenghou, vice-director of Zhejiang Provincial Tourism Bureau, said Zhejiang will boldly increase its tourism investment to boost the tourism industry. [chinadaily.com.cn by Shen Wei]

Tourists' paradise opens to guests

Zhejiang is a natural born paradise for tourism, with 32 four-star scenery-spots and seven national nature reserve areas, outnumbering other provinces on the Chinese mainland.

Hangzhou, as one of the major tourism cities in the province, has been the most attractive tourist destination. Known for its "heavenly scenery" (the wide-spread saying "Above us is the heaven; right under the heaven are Suzhou and Hangzhou" best describes the beauty of Hangzhou and Suzhou, another scenic city), Hangzhou lures millions of tourists every year.

Zhejiang government has been making all efforts to preserve its tourism resources and maintain a strategy of sustainable development, according to Yao.

A campaign named Green Zhejiang was launched to protect the natural environment and crack down on pollution.

Baochu Pagoda (on the hill) and Duanqiao Bridge alongside the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, are among the hotest tourism spots in China. [chinadaily.com.cn by Shen Wei]

Private tourism institutions are encouraged to develop projects besides the favourable treatment they enjoy from local government.

"To win more visitors, we abolished the admittance fees in all scenic spots around the West Lake last year," Yao said. "It's been proven very successful in both social and economic sense."

Tapping overseas tourists

As China becomes more open to the world, overseas tourists are flooding to the newly admitted WTO member. Tourism bucks' weight has become quite considerable.

"More overseas tourists prefer to stay in Zhejiang, and they enjoy their stay than before," said Yao. According to an official report, each overseas tourist stays in Zhejiang for 2.5 days on average and spends US$194.9, or US$9 more than a year ago.

Most tourism institutions are in a hunger for international tourism management talents. The gap is enormous," Yao said. "But we are decided to grasp the opportunities."

It is reported that every ten yuan produced in the province's GDP, one came from tourism.

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