Yachting is going to be developed as part of a three-year blueprint for tourism announced on Friday by the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission.

The city also plans to work with the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to attract more tourists, making full use of their resources and co-operating in promotional work.

The city has not yet worked out detailed regulations on yachting management, such as sites for dropping anchor and the issuing of yachting licences. But officials at the Shanghai commission said yachting will be developed to tap tourism resources along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek.

The tourism plan divides the city into five parts - northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest and central Shanghai. The divisions are based on each part's varied features. Island and forest tourism is to be developed in the northeast and the International Motor Center and the car-racing circuit in the northwest.

The new plan was drawn up after an eight-month survey, research and analysis.

The National Tourism Administration has predicted that the tourism industry will have completely recovered by 2005 from the impact of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

However, officials said business travel to Shanghai could return to the pre-SARS level this winter or next spring. Shanghai is trying to help its tourism industry recover entirely by the end of June next year.

The 2003 Shanghai Tourism Festival will start on September 13. Each district will have its own activities, such as carnivals, parades, and fireworks displays.

The city's maglev trains will start to operate again during the National Day holidays at the beginning of October. Many locals and people from other provinces have called to reserve places on the train.

The city hopes to receive 4 million foreign travellers every year after the three-year blueprint starts being implemented, bringing in an expected revenue of around US$3 billion.

(China Daily August 23, 2003)