Beijing tourism booms in holiday week

Beijing reported 8.3 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) of tourism income during the week-long National Day holiday, up 7.1 percent from the same period of 2014, the local tourism authority said Wednesday.

The Chinese capital received 2.8 million tourist arrivals during the gold week, up 3.3 percent from the same period of last year, Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development said in a press release.

These tourists contributed to 80 percent of Beijing's holiday tourism revenue, having spent 6.72 billion yuan in the first week of October, averaging 2,409 yuan per person.

Their spending on food and beverage took up 21.3 percent of their total expenditure, slightly higher than last year's 20.5 percent, the document said.

Tourists' spending on other consumer goods, however, dipped from last year's 25 percent to 23.8 percent, it said.

Local residents also contributed to the holiday tourism market.

Out of the total 11.5 million sightseeing tours made in the Chinese capital in the first week of October, 75 percent were by locals, the commission said.

Starting Oct 1, major tourist attractions in China began imposing limits on the number of visitors. The Forbidden City in the heart of Beijing limited its daily number of visitors to 80,000, down from last year's maximum of 130,000 visitors a day.

The new measure ensured tourists' safety and created a better environment for sightseers, the commission said in the press release.