tourism industry growth Quickening

							     Mainland to bolster
                                tourism industry growth
                                                        Civil Service Training and Development Institute,
                                                                                      Civil Service Bureau

                                                          TOURISM	 is	 a	 strategic	 industry.	 Not	 only	 does	
                                                          it	 consume	 less	 resources,	 it	 also	 bolsters	 the	
                                                          development	 of	 many	 other	 trades,	 offering	
                                                          different	types	of	employment	opportunities.	




          In December 2009, the State Council promulgated            –   To enhance the level of tourism services
     the Opinions on Quickening the Development of                   –   To improve the quality of tourism personnel
     Tourism Industry, urging the parties concerned to foster        –   To improve safety for tourists
     the development of the tourism industry and make it             –   To step up Government investment
     a pillar of the national economy, as well as a modern
     service sector that meets people’s expectation.                The National Development and Reform
                                                                Commission will be tasked with the overall co-
         The State Council has set the following specific       ordination of these efforts and the National
     targets, among others, for the Mainland’s tourism          Tourism Administration, together with other related
     industry. By 2015, the tourism market is predicted         departments, will provide guidance and supervision.
     to reach 3.3 billion inbound tourists at an annual
     average growth rate of 10%. Total industry revenue             Every winter, we watch TV news reports about
     will grow at an annual average rate of more than           the Changchun Ice and Snow Tourism Festival. The
     12%. Industry share of Gross Domestic Product              Festival officially opened this year on January 2 at
     will increase to 4.5%. It is expected that tourist-        the Jingyuetan Forest Park in Changchun. Since its
     related consumption will account for 10% of the            inception 12 years ago, the Festival has attracted
     total consumption of the population and each year          a total of 49 million visitors, generating more than
     500,000 new jobs will be created.                          39 billion yuan in revenue. Although it is not a hot
                                                                spot for Hong Kong and foreign tourists, it can still
          The State Council also hopes to improve the           bring in large amounts of revenue. Other popular
     service quality and market order of the industry,          tourist destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou
     striving to put the Mainland’s tourism industry on a       and Hangzhou are also obviously great sources of
     par with the world’s great tourism powers by 2020          tourist revenue.
     in terms of scale, quality and cost effectiveness.
                                                                    The Mainland has always been a popular
         To achieve the above-mentioned targets, the            destination with Hong Kong tourists and the
     State Council has adopted the following measures:          Mainland’s efforts to boost the tourism industry is
         – To deepen the reform and opening up of               good news for us all, as it will greatly enhance its
           the tourism industry                                 overall quality of tourism.
         – To enhance the environment for tourist
                                                                  Sources:
           consumption                                            Opinions on Quickening the Development of Tourism Industry posted on
                                                                  the website of the Central People’s Government.
         – To quicken the construction of tourism                 http://big5.gov.cn/gate/big5/www.gov.cn/zwgk/2009-12/03/
           infrastructure                                         content_1479523.htm

         – To develop hot new spots for tourist                   Opening of the Changchun Ice and Snow Tourism Festival 2010 posted on
                                                                  the website of National Tourism Administration.
           consumption                                            http://www.cnta.gov.cn/html/2010-1/2010-1-4-12-17-69918.html
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