Beijing enjoyed a tourism boom over the May Day holiday, with the city recording 3.7 million visitors from May 1 to 3, up 22.7 percent more than the year before, the local tourism authority said yesterday.

The municipal tourism bureau figures showed that tourism revenue totaled 1.24 billion yuan (US$182 million), up 32 percent.

The bureau said the number of Beijingers traveling within the city rose by 24.5 percent to 1.67 million over the three-day holiday, spending 420 million yuan on travel.

The bureau said the increase was the result of its program to promote the city's new scenic spots, travel to suburban areas and other tourism activities in neighboring regions during the holiday.

Beijing's suburban areas received 1.14 million local tourists during the holiday, the bureau said.

"People only had three days off, and concerns over swine flu and of costs during the financial crisis made many people cautious about longer travel," said Tian Ling, a manager at China Youth Travel Services.

Beijing was also one of the most popular tourist destinations for tourists from other parts of the country in the holiday, with more than 890,000 visitors from outside the city, according to the tourist bureau.

The bureau said the per-capita tourist spending increased by 12.5 percent year on year even for Beijing's local tourists during the holiday because of increased travel costs.

Junlinshengshi, a tourist agency, said the price of city travel had surged by about 30 percent for group tours.

(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2009)