Scenic Island to Host International Tourism Festival

Scenic Island to Host International Tourism Festival

The scenic island of Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province is scheduled to host an international tourism festival in November this year, a meeting was told Monday. Addressing an annual tourism conference held by the Fujian provincial tourism bureau, Xiamen tourism officials said about 3,000 overseas travel agents and tourists would be invited for the event, but no specific date was given. During the festival, local customs would be showcased, and a contest featuring Fujian-style cuisine was planned, said the officials. Overseas travel agents will inspect major tourist destinations in the province. Fujian received about 41.1 million tourists last year, up 18 percent over the previous year, while the tourism sector in the province reported total earnings of 42.4 billion yuan (5.1 billionUS dollars), up 23 percent. That figure translates into about 9.1 percent of the province'sgross domestic output.