The Green Book of China's Tourism, published by Social Sciences Academic Press, was released yesterday including travel data for last year that showed significant increases in numbers of overseas tourists.

There were 3.3 million visitors from Japan last year, the largest number of foreigners and an increase of 14 percent on 2002.

One in four South Koreans traveling abroad last year chose China as a destination, a third more than in 2002, and almost 50 percent more Russians came compared with two years earlier. Visitors from the US, Japan and other countries also increased.

Since the SARS epidemic distorted data for 2003, 2002 was used for comparison instead.

Experts also predicted yesterday that inbound travel is expected to show robust growth again this year, with forecasts of a 15 percent rise in both arrivals and revenue.

The sector is likely to yield some US$30 billion thanks to an estimated influx of 110 million tourists, said Liu Deqian, tourism expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and 2010 Expo in Shanghai are thought to be behind the rise, as well as trade fairs and prestigious sporting events like Formula 1 in Shanghai, exhibition games by NBA teams and last weekend's Johnnie Walker Classic golf tournament in Beijing.

Hong Kong residents, who have long dominated the inbound market, showed a dip last year compared with 2003 but still made up 70 percent of visitors to the mainland, down from 87.6 percent.

China was last year listed as one of the world's most attractive destination countries by Travel Trade Gazette - Asia, but the travel isn't just one-way, said Zhang Guangrui, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher.

About 28.85 million Chinese went on foreign trips last year, up 42.7 percent and the largest annual jump since the launch of outbound tourism in 1983.

(China Daily April 27, 2005)