Shanxi's tourism industry enjoyed a huge boom in 2016, with income close to 425 billion yuan ($62 billion).
The boom, led largely by domestic tourists, produced income of 424.71 billion yuan, an increase of 23.19 percent year-on-year, according to Shanxi Daily.
The number of foreign visitors to the province rose to 899,700, up 6.07 percent, while domestic tourists totaled 443 million, up 23.11 percent.
The growth in visitors created over 50,000 new jobs in the industry last year.
The increase wasn't just good news for the provincial tourism sector; it also gave other industries, such as communications and transport services, a shot in the arm. Last year, tourism in the province accounted for 70 percent of growth in those two sectors.
The provincial government ranked tourism as the top of the seven non-coal industries at the beginning of 2016. It made great efforts with subordinate departments to establish a complete system of tourism and promote the construction of a demonstration area in the province.
