Beijing has drawn up an ambitious plan to attract 3.3 million foreign tourists this year, a year-on-year rise of 7 percent.
Yu Changjiang, director of the Beijing Tourism Bureau, was quoted by the Beijing Morning Post as saying his bureau intended to invite travel agencies and media from Southeast Asia, Europe and North America to visit Beijing this year.
Yu said Beijing would focus on developing the market for organized corporate trips awarded to employees for their excellent performance.
The market for corporate bonus trips was enticing, said Yu, citing a 400-person American tourist party last year who spent 4 million US dollars during their four-day stay in Beijing.
The bureau will attend an international conference on bonus trips in Frankfurt, Germany, this month and in April. Yu said they would also visit customers in Britain and Spain to promote a Beijing package as part of their European trip.
Some 100 international bonus trip dealers will also be invited to visit Beijing this year.
Meanwhile, Beijing will expand the market for student tourists from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Macao and other countries and regions, Yu added.
(People?s Daily March 11, 2003)
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