Beijing's Inbound Tourist Numbers Decrease In April

According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics, Beijing welcomed a total of 385,000 inbound tourists this April, a 5.3% decrease from the same period of last year.

Of these the number of tourists from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan was 38,000, representing a 30.0% decrease from the same period of last year; while international arrivals visiting to Beijing reached a total of 347,000, a drop of 1.5% compared to the same month last year.

The numbers of inbound tourists to Beijing from three large source markets — the USA, Japan, and South Korea — have greatly decreased. In April 2008, Beijing hosted 49,000 tourists from the USA, a 17.2% decrease from April 2007; 34,000 from Japan, a 24.4% decrease; and 35,000 from South Korea, a 11.0% decrease.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics said that the decrease in the number of inbound tourists to Beijing was mainly the result of China limiting the issue of inbound visas before the Beijing Olympic Games and Beijing's policy of controlling international conferences and exhibitions. In addition, with the RMB increasing in value and hotel room prices rising, inbound tourists having to spend more on traveling to Beijing was also cited as one of factors in the downward trend.