Yunnan Becoming Popular Tourist Destination

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 ◆ Yunnan Becoming Popular Tourist Destination

Experts with the World Tourism Organization have said that southwest China's Yunnan Province, neighboring southeast Asia, is poised to become one of Asia's most sought-after travel destinations in the next 20 years. Since late last year, the organization joined hands with the Yunnan provincial government to put together a comprehensive development plan for the province's tourism industry. For the past few months, experts from Australia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have studied the advantages and disadvantages of tourism development in Yunnan. The experts agreed that Yunnan has rich cultural and natural resources. It also has a warm, sunny climate which is conducive to travel in all seasons. Meanwhile, the province neighbors southeast Asian countries and links them with the rest of China. While Chinese flock to the province for its fresh flowers, which are not so readily available in other areas of the country, tourists from other Asian countries see the area as a holiday resort. Home to 25 ethnic groups, Yunnan is mysterious and appealing to European and American tourists who are amazed at the ethnic culture and various customs here. Last year, the province received a total of 37 million domestic and overseas tourists and revenue from tourism reached 20.4 billion yuan (US$2.46 billion), ranking seventh among the provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Over the past five years, the number of overseas and domestic tourists to the province witnessed a year-on-year growth of 10.9 and 16.6 percent respectively. Statistics show that during the period, the revenue from tourism accounted for an average of 8.2 percent of the province's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Under the plan made by the Yunnan government and the World Tourism Organization, the province is expected to receive 47 million tourists by the year 2005; 52.6 million by 2010; and 64 million by 2020. The revenue from tourism will reach 24 billion yuan, 40 billion yuan and 77 billion yuan respectively in the years 2005, 2010 and 2020.