CHINA’S tourism industry maintained rapid growth in 2019, with the number of domestic trips rising 8.4 percent to over 6 billion, said the China Tourism Academy. A report issued last Tuesday by the academy showed that China’s total tourism revenue reached 6.63 trillion yuan (US$955.3 billion) in 2019, up 11 percent year on year. The total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in China reached 10.94 trillion yuan last year, accounting for 11.05 percent of the total GDP. The tourism industry provided direct and indirect employment to 79.87 million people, accounting for over 10 percent of the employed population in the country, said the report. Statistics showed that about 4.47 billion domestic trips were made by urban residents, up 8.5 percent year on year, while around 1.54 billion were made by rural residents, up 8.1 percent. The number of inbound tourists in China rose 2.9 percent to 145 million in 2019, bringing revenue of US$131.3 billion, up 3.3 percent from one year earlier. Of the inbound tourists, 75.9 percent were from Asia, 7.7 percent from America, 13.2 percent from Europe, 1.9 percent from Oceania and 1.4 percent from Africa. The report said in 2019, Chinese tourists made 155 million outbound trips, up 3.3 percent year on year. (Xinhua) | 