Beijing receives over 18 million tourist visits during May Day holiday

BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) — The Chinese capital city of Beijing received 18.83 million tourist visits during the five-day May Day holiday, up 5.1 percent year on year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said on Tuesday.

The total tourism revenue hit 22.36 billion yuan (about 3.26 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 6.6 percent, according to the bureau.

The city also recorded 128,000 inbound tourist visits, rising 22.3 percent from the same period of last year, and inbound tourism spending reached 1.38 billion yuan, up 22.6 percent year on year.

During the holiday, Beijing rolled out more than 2,000 cultural and tourism activities featuring artistic performances, scenic spot tours, popular science research trips, and trendy fairs.

The city held 1,684 sessions of 332 offline commercial performances, with total box office revenue reaching around 260 million yuan, official data showed.  ■