Ulanqab earns $1.14b from tourism

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2016-09-19

From?January to August, over 9.4 million tourists flocked to Ulanqab, a city in Inner Mongolia, earning it a total of 7.6 billion yuan ($1.14 billion) in tourism revenue, a year-on-year increase of 11.1 percent.

In 2016, the Ulanqab government will support 62 tourism projects, investing 5.98 billion yuan in total. Among these projects, 23 involve newly built facilities while 39 are renovation projects.

By the end of August, the number of completed projects will have reached 40, including scenic spots and ranches, with 2 billion yuan of investment, representing year-on-year growth of 96.1 percent.

According to the finance department, there will be 18 projects receiving 100 million yuan in funds and 7 projects receiving 50 million yuan, indicating a rise of 91.1 percent compared to last year.

In the first eight months of 2016, the Mongolian Exposition Park in Jining received 210 million yuan of investment, the Honghaizi Sports Center received 30 million yuan, and the scenic spots in Liangcheng county received 110 million yuan.

Among the projects, some tourist attractions are close to completion, including Daihai Lake, Huixiang Temple and Dongjin Hill.

Meanwhile, the local government has also proposed building 92 toilets at tourist sites during 2016, and among them, 32 have been put into use while 34 are still under-construction.

Through investment in the tourism sector, Ulanqab hopes to attract more tourists and businesses to the area.