Official: China's tourism industry recovers during financial crisis

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

HEFEI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China's tourism is
recovering from the global financial crisis, said a tourism official at the
Central China Forum here on Saturday.

During the Spring Festival, China received 109
million domestic tourists, 24.7 percent up from 2007, said Zhu Shanzhong, vice
director of the National Tourism Administration.

During the holiday, China achieved a profit of 50.9
billion yuan (about 7.5 billion U.S. dollars), 23.1 percent higher from the
corresponding period in 2007, he said.

The three-day holiday for Tomb-sweeping Day saw
another tourism peak this year.

"Despite the financial crisis that swept the world,
China's tourism is developing and is expected to recover in the near future,"
Zhu said.

He believed that the industry was likely to play an
important role in extending domestic demand and helping China to tide over the
difficulty.

Six provinces in China, namely Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan,
Hunan, Hubei and Shanxi, enjoy rich tourism resources. Zhu hopes that they could
cooperate so as to boost the tourism industry.