2011-05-25 11:30

URUMQI - Income from tourism in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is expected to reach 100 billion yuan (about $15.4 billion) in 2015, local authorities said Wednesday.

According to the regional 12th Five-Year Plan, Xinjiang is expected to receive 80 million domestic tourists and 2 million overseas tourists in 2015, said Zhang Chunxian, Party chief of the region, at Xinjiang Tourism Development Conference opened here Wednesday.

Annual income from tourism is expected to reach 85 to 100 billion yuan in 2015, making up 8 percent of the region's gross domestic product (GDP), Zhang said.

The number of people employed in the tourism industry is forecast to double in the next 5 years, he added.

The region received more than 30 million domestic tourists and 1 million overseas tourists in 2010, and the region's tourism industry income exceeded 30 billion yuan (about $4.6 billion) last year, which was a record high, he said.

"This is a hard-won result for Xinjiang, after the July 5 riots in 2009 and the the global downturn," he added.