Millions of tourists emptied their pocketbooks during the 7-day May Day holiday in the Chinese capital, which reported tourism revenue of 3.2 billion yuan (US$386 million) during the period, official sources said.

The city received 1.91 million visitors from other provinces and cities, down 23.6 percent from the same period last year, while 1.87 million Beijing residents traveled out of town, up 24.7 percent.

And 1.69 million Beijing people chose to tour around the city, up 69 percent, according to the Beijing holiday tourism office.

Tourists from outside Beijing spent 3 billion yuan (US$361 million) in the city and the remaining 200 million yuan came from locals (US$24 million), the office said.

Although they reported drops in numbers of outside tourists, 44 scenic sites in the city still listed a 6 percent increase in revenues, partially due to a hike in tickets, and also because of improved catering and recreational services which encouraged people to spend more.

Statistics show that each outside tourist spent an average of 1, 587 yuan (US$190 ) during their stay in Beijing.

(Xinhua 05/08/2001)