Beijing hopes to boost tourism by providing financial incentives to travel agencies, according to the Beijing Tourism Development Committee.

The government will provide bonuses ranging from 300,000 yuan ($47,700) to 500,000 yuan ($79,300), according to the length of time foreign tourists stay in the city.

“The tourism industry will be the pillar industry of the city’s future,” said Beijing Vice-Mayor Ding Xiangyang. “We should try by all means to tap the city’s tourism potential to further introduce Beijing to the world and spur its GDP growth.”

According to the committee, tourism has contributed tremendously to the capital’s economic growth, with more than 5 million tourists staying overnight in 2011, an increase of six percent over the previous year.

More than 200 million tourists visited the capital last year, 15 percent more than in 2010, spending more than 300 billion yuan, an increase of 16 percent.

The tourism industry accounts for 7 percent of the capital’s revenue, compared to an average of 5 percent worldwide, according to Wang Yue, deputy director of the committee.

The city spent one billion yuan to promote its tourism industry in 2011, according to official figures.

“Tourism is a green industry and its prospect should never be underestimated,” said Ding.