The worst earthquake to hit China in decades has inflicted not only huge casualties but also heavy losses to the popular tourist destination of southwestern Sichuan Province.

The 8.0-magnitude quake that struck the province's Wenchuan County on May 12 has incurred at least 70 billion yuan (10 billion US dollars) of economic loss to the local tourism industry. The amount was more than half of last year's total tourism revenue, said Zhang Gu, Sichuan Provincial Tourism Bureau director.

"The figure of losses is likely to rise further as aftershocks continue," he said.

Some 568 tourist attractions among about 4,000 in total in the province were damaged by the quake, causing 27.84 billion yuan in losses, he said.

Sichuan is a paradise for tourists, with its spectacular natural scenery and five sites on the United Nations cultural agency's World Heritage List. It is best known as home of the endangered giant pandas.

Erwang Temple after the earthquake

Last year, the province reported tourism revenue of 121.73 billion yuan, up 24.3 percent from a year earlier. The figure accounted for about 11.6 percent of Sichuan's gross domestic product.

The massive quake severely damaged some scenic spots at the Mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan Irrigation System, and the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries -- both on the World Heritage List.

"Most of the ancient buildings at the Erwang Temple (Temple of Two Kings) built 2,000 years ago in Dujiangyan collapsed, and all roads leading to the Wolong giant panda nature reserve were blocked," Zhang said.

In addition, quite a few scenic spots in other areas were ruined completely and cannot be rebuilt, such as the Yuanwang Cave (Cave of Ape King) in Shifang and Qianfo Mountain (Mountain of Thousand Buddhas)in Anxian County, he said.