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Tourism: Bid to lure tourists to Hangzhou

By Wang Hongyi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-21 07:45

SHANGHAI: Coupons worth almost 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) in discounts are to be doled out to tourists in the scenic city of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, to boost visitor numbers during the financial crisis.

The vouchers will be targeted at people living in the Yangtze Delta region and Shanghai, according to the Hangzhou tourism committee.

Visitors will be able to use the coupons to pay entrance fees to the city's most popular scenic sights, as well as buy tickets for entertainment events or food, the tourism committee said.

"Boosting tourist spending is an immediate necessity for Hangzhou," said Li Hong, an official for the city's tourism committee.

"Not everyone who receives the coupons will actually come to visit Hangzhou, but the odds increase a lot."

According to their latest report, the World Tourism Organization predicts only a 0-2 percent global growth this year for the number of tourists who holiday in a destination for at least one night, compared to last year.

Even the Asia Pacific region, regarded as one of the fastest growing tourism markets, will not see an increase of more than 2 percent, the report said.

And it is also feared the continued appreciation of the renminbi will undermine the competitive cost advantages of visiting China.

This has been reflected in the National Tourism Administration's forecast of only a 1.5 to 2-percent growth on overseas tourists and foreign exchange income this year, a far cry from the target of 6 percent annual growth on inbound tourists and 10 percent rise in foreign exchange income predicted in the 11th 5-Year Plan (2006-10) for tourism.

"Apart from the 10 million yuan from the city's tourism committee, the government will also help fund the Hangzhou tourism stimulus package," an official from the tourism committee told China Daily yesterday without revealing the specific amount.

"Details of how the coupons will be distributed have not been finalized yet but the stimulus plan will be implemented soon if everything goes well," she added.

Hangzhou tourism committee will subsidize the businesses that participate in the stimulus project, local media reported.

(China Daily 01/21/2009 page5)