BRIEF INTRODUCTION

I. Tourist statistics cover international and domestic tourism. The contents of this chapter include total number of international tourists received (foreigners, overseas Chinese, Chinese compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), Chinese residents going abroad, domestic tourists (from urban and from rural areas), tourists participating in organized tours, and income from international and domestic tourism.

II. Statistics in this chapter are compiled by the Department of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of the National Bureau of Statistics on the basis of data from the Ministry of Public Security and State Tourism Administration. Sources of data are as follows: number of international tourists entering into China and Chinese residents going abroad is provided by the Frontier Administration of the Ministry of Public Security; number of international tourists received by province, number of international tourists received by travel agency, number of domestic tourists and earnings from domestic tourism are provided by the State Tourism Administration; figures on the earnings from international tourism before 1994 are provided by the Department of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics using data on the expenditure of Foreign Exchange Certificates by international tourists, and since 1994, by the State Tourism Administration; data on basic situation of travel agencies and tourist hotels are provided the State Tourism Administration.

III. Data collection approaches: data on the earnings from international and domestic tourism and domestic tourists are collected from sample surveys, while statistics on other items are from administrative reports.