Inbound tourism falling short of goal

3 years of decline hurt overall tally

China's struggling inbound tourism industry has seen three years of decline in visits by overseas tourists and is unlikely to meet the overall goal set by the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), industry insiders warned.

According to the guideline for development of China's tourism industry set forth in the 12th Five-Year Plan, the target for the annual growth rate of visits by overseas tourists is 3 percent, while the target for foreign tourists is 4.5 percent. This means that total visits by overseas tourists and foreign tourists this year, to meet the target, should be 153 million and 31.15 million, respectively.