Tourists, growing in numbers this year for the celebrations, stated they were more satisfied than ever with the organization of events, according to an official industry report released yesterday.

A survey conducted in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, showed 98.6 per cent of tourists were satisfied with their trips to the city, an increase of 0.5 per cent compared with last year.

The report attributed this to efficient management and new tour programmes.

This year, governmental departments - such as industry and commerce, public security and quality inspection - have joined hands in cracking down on illegal operations and protecting tourists' legal rights. Tourist site officials have also designed new programmes and carried out promotions to attract people.

Due to these efforts, tourist numbers and revenue in some places have set record highs.

For example, Tianjin received 2.56 million tourists during the holiday period, bringing 1.18 billion yuan (US$142.5 million) of income, a growth of 15.6 and 12 per cent than the same period of last year.

The report also stated people are changing their ways of travelling. Increasingly more people are choosing to join in groups rather than travelling individually.

Travel services in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, received 144,000 tourists, an increase of 26.6 per cent compared with last year's Spring Festival holiday.

Qufu in East China's Shandong Province has also greatly benefited from the change, as it received at least 200 touring parties, including 90 from overseas. The city, famous as the hometown of Confucius, received more than 10 overseas touring parties in just three days from February 11 to Wednesday.

Though such numbers have caused great pressure on the country's transportation system, most cities and tourist sites remained accessible, the report said.

(China Daily February 19, 2002)