Growing numbers of tourists interested in Shandong's products have helped the tourism business there improve over the past five years, and a number of its cities have been rated excellent tourist destinations.

"Tourism is on track to be one of the province's pillar industries," said Yu Chong, the Shandong Tourism Bureau's director general.

The province has seven historic cities famous for their culture, 101 relics under national protection, 900 leading tourist attractions, 19 national and provincial-level tourist resorts and 913 star-grade hotels.

"This year, revenues are expected to exceed 300 billion yuan ($45 billion), an increase of about 23 percent year-on-year," Yu said.

"Currently, China has recognized 85 towns, 15 counties and 35 cities as excellent tourist destinations, putting it first in the country," Yu added.

Last year, the province had some 280 million Chinese visitors, up 20 percent year-on-year. They brought in about 233 billion yuan in earnings, an increase of 22 percent.

Domestic tourism revenues accounted for 7.25 percent of the province's GDP and 21.7 percent of the service industry's total earnings.

The province also had 3.1 million tourists from overseas, an increase of 22 percent. They generated $1.76 billion in earnings, up 26 percent.

This year, that number is expected to exceed 2 million, with the number of domestic tourists expected to reach 200 million.

Shandong's resources include its natural beauty and a number of cultural heritage sites. These have attracted 256 billion yuan in investment. It has 722 tourism projects under construction, with 425 billion yuan in backing, with 26 of them receiving more than 3 billion yuan.

About half of the projects are in the coastal cities of Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai, where "blue tourism" is being developed.

This past April, 37 projects, with 27.7 billion yuan in backing, opened to the public, providing new tourist attractions.

During the National Day holiday, the province had 30.1 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 36.9 percent. That brought 20 billion yuan in revenues, up 40.3 percent. Taishan Fantawild Adventure had 129,700 tourists and the old town of the Water Margin in Tai'an had 456,600, bringing 21.8 million yuan in revenues to Taishan, and 9.1 million to the old town.

Shandong provides performances based on its history and culture that are new highlights. They include an outdoor Worship of Heaven and Earth performance on Taishan Mountain that commemorates a historic ceremony held by emperors of the distant past.

Authorities have also held exhibitions in various countries and regions, including Japan, Singapore, Germany, the United State, and Russia, to make "Friendly Shandong" an influential tourist brand.

(China Daily 12/21/2010 page6)