China has set a development goal for its tourism industry in the "11th Five-year Plan" period (2006-2010), aiming to realize an average yearly growth of 8% in the number of inbound tourists and inbound tourists who will stay overnight, 12% in international tourism revenue, 8% in the number of domestic tourists, 10% in domestic tourism revenue and 10% in total tourism income.

It is learnt from the national working conference on tourism that by 2010, China's international tourism income will reach US$53 billion, domestic tourism revenue will top 850 billion yuan (US$104 billion), total tourism revenue will amount to 1.27 trillion yuan and employees engaged in the tourism industry will total 10 million.

To fulfill the above goals, the National Tourism Administration will adhere to the principle of "striving to boost inbound tourism, standardize outbound tourism and fully upgrade domestic tourism" and pursue coordinated development of these three major tourism markets.

Insiders analyze that the favorable development trend of global tourism industry would benefit China in the next five years. The overall trend of global tourism industry is that developed European and American nations maintain their advantages in international inbound and outbound tourism markets with a slower growth rate, while East Asia-Pacific countries and regions, represented by China, will retain relatively rapid growth.

The World Tourism Organization forecasts that China will become the world's largest tourist destination and the fourth biggest tourist source by 2020. Despite instability in some areas of the globe, China keeps the image as a secure tourist destination and in consequence, its tourism boom will stay in a golden season for quite a long period of time.

(Source: ChinaNews.cn)