US$80 for tourists to include Xinjiang in their travel plans
Print Edition
VISITORS to northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are to get 500 yuan (US$80) in an initiative designed to win back tourists.
Before a series of terrorist attacks, Xinjiang was a popular destination famed for its natural beauty and exotic cultures. Last year, it attracted more than 52 million tourists, an increase of 17 percent on the year before, according to government statistics.
But the tourism boom has been eclipsed by the attacks.
“The number of tourists we received recently decreased by 40 percent compared to the figure in the same period of last year,” said Inam Nesirdin, Xinjiang tourist bureau director.
“We still have many people visiting here in winter to go skiing and skating. But many suspended their plans after the railway station attack in March in Yunnan, and then terrorist incidents in Xinjiang,” he said.
He told China Radio International yesterday: “Clouds can never cover the sun,” as he explained that religious extremists accounted for a very small minority in Xinjiang.
“For decades, there was never a visitor who got hurt in Xinjiang,” he said.
“You should come here to see for yourself, instead of relying on hearsay, and then you will know our management is good,” he said, adding that tourists should rest assured regarding their security.
Xinjiang is also calling on authorities in neighboring countries to approve travel permits to the area as another way of boosting tourist numbers.
China has witnessed a surge in terror attacks over the recent months.
In March, 29 people were killed and 143 injured at a railway station in the southwestern city of Kunming.
On April 30, three people were killed and 79 injured in an attack at a railway station in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi.
The worst violence in five years came on May 22 when a five-member terrorist gang drove vehicles into people and detonated bombs in a street in Urumqi, killing 39 people and injuring 94 others.
Xinjiang police announced the start of a yearlong anti-terror campaign on May 23.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
