Xinjiang: Annual Visitor Arrivals To Hit 50 Million

According to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Tourism Bureau, the number of visitor arrivals to Xinjiang is expected to reach an average 50 million a year over the 12th five-year plan period from 2011 to 2015.

A senior official at the bureau said that the provincial government is gearing up for the construction of tourism facilities to meet a high level of demand from domestic and overseas tourism markets.

In the meantime, in a move to encourage more tourists, the bureau is negotiating with aviation carriers to cut prices of air tickets on flights to Xinjiang.

According to official figures, more than 11 million visitors traveled to Xinjiang in the first half of 2010. The number of visitor arrivals for the whole year is expected to be 25 million: including over one million overseas tourists.