East China's Zhejiang Province registered rapid growth in the tourism industry over the past six months.

During January to June, the province hosted 625,800 overseas tourists, and earned an income of US$ 284 million, up 24. 7 percent and 25.5 percent from a year ago.

During the same period domestic tourists totaled 36.5 million, earning 27.81 billion yuan (US$ 3.36 million ) for the province.

Tourists from Japan, Thailand, the United States and Australia surged by a large margin, and their stay increased by half a day compared with the same period of last year.

Zhejiang has 11 state-level and 42 provincial-level scenic zones. In its bid to accelerate development of new scenic areas, the province has held a dozen events, including tourism festivals and symposiums, to attract travelers.

(Xinhua 08/16/2001)