The central government said on Wednesday it is considering a series of fiscal measures to promote tourism, particularly in the less developed interior regions.

The National Development and Reform Commission, in a joint statement with the National Tourism Administration, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance and the People's Bank of China, said a series of measures will be taken to upgrade the nation's tourism industry, with special focus on the less developed west and central areas and the rust-belt industrial regions in the northeast.

The statement said the government is considering the introduction of tax incentives and subsidized micro-credit loans to companies for the development of tourism and training of professionals.

The government will also provide support to the local governments of less developed areas that have rich tourism resources but poor infrastructures.

The statement emphasized the importance of tourism in job creation.

By 2015, China's tourism industry is expected to employ about 100 million workers, from the current 60 million.

"The tourism industry involves widely different types of services some of which are relatively labor intensive," Yang Chunyan, an analyst at Orient Securities in Shanghai, said.

"Growth in tourism has the potential of benefiting many other related sectors such as retail, catering, entertainment, airlines, and logistics," she said.

Tourism in China has great potential for growth, especially in the western areas of the country, such as Yunnan Province and parts of Sichuan Province, she said.

Government figures show spending by domestic tourists amounted to 777.6 billion yuan (US$114.3 billion) last year, up 47 percent from 2005. Spending by urban residents increased by 51.8 percent to 555 billion yuan and for rural residents by 36.2 percent to 222 billion yuan.

The per capita spending by domestic tourists last year rose 10.6 percent from 2005 to 482.6 yuan.

The per capita spending by urban residents increased by 23 percent to 960.9 yuan and rural residents, fell by 2.2 percent to 222.5 yuan.

(China Daily August 28, 2008)