The global financial crisis failed to dampen tourism in China during the weeklong lunar New Year holiday as lower travel costs persuaded people to spend.

According to statistics released by the National Tourism Administration on Sunday, the country recorded 109 million visits during the holiday, up 24.7 percent from the previous New Year period.

Tourism revenue hit 50.93 billion yuan (7.45 billion U.S. dollars), up 23.1 percent. Air transport made 3.8 billion yuan and railway transport made 2.26 billion yuan. 39 major tourism cities, including Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, earned 21.88 billion yuan and other cities and tourist sites earned 22.99 billion yuan.

During the holiday, 177 retail firms in the 39 cities reported a total sales income of 5.84 billion yuan, up 6.5 percent year on year. Another 172 restaurants posted a combined business revenue of 580 million yuan, up 11.9 percent.

The administration statistics released on Saturday showed 19 major tourism cities including Beijing recorded a more than 15 percent increase in both the number of tourists and revenue during the holiday from Jan. 25 to 31.

Analysts noted local governments and tourism bureaus sought to attract tourists in attempt to stimulate consumption during the golden week. Measures included cutting prices of tickets to tourist attractions and lowering prices of travel packages.

"The economic turmoil compelled airlines to cut fuel surcharges, while restaurants and tourist sites provided discounts. These contributed to the booming domestic tourism market," said Qi Xinyuan, head of marketing section of China International Travel Service.

Beijing received 3.24 million travelers during the holiday, up 20 percent from the same holiday last year. Revenue hit 2.16 billion yuan, up 32.6 percent year on year.

The festival brought 7.13 million people to the eastern Shandong Province, up 16.3 percent. Tourism revenue totaled 4.58 billion yuan, up 19.6 percent.

The quake-hit Sichuan Province also posted impressive results, with the number of tourists climbing 21.9 percent to about 16.57 million and total revenue up 32.8 percent to 4.725 billion yuan.

Statistics also showed the number of tourists visiting Japan, ROK, south Asian countries, and Australia increased. However, no specific figures were available for these regions.

With warmer relations between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, tours to Taiwan turned out to be popular, with more than 13,000 mainland travelers visiting the island during the seven-day holiday.

The administration said the tourism boom at the beginning of the year set a good start for the whole year.

In the eventful 2008, global tourism market was dragged into a slump by the financial crisis. China was also affected, with the number of foreign tourists falling 6.8 percent to 24.3 million from the previous year.

Tourism revenue totaled 1.16 trillion yuan last year, up 5.8 percent year-on-year. It included 874.9 billion yuan earned from local travelers and 283.9 billion yuan from overseas tourists. The two figures for 2007 were 777.1 billion yuan and 312.9 billion yuan, respectively.

Data showed domestic tourism still held up while inbound tourism declined.

The tourism administration's chief, Shao Qiwei, said in the 2009 national tourism work conference on Jan. 7 that the country would seek to stimulate domestic tourism and create new outlets for tourism growth. He expected rising domestic and outbound travels and a rebound in inbound tourism this year.

According to a survey conducted by China Tourism Academy and Beijing-based Tsinghua University, 92 percent of respondents were willing to travel this year.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2009)