In an effort to encourage tourism, Beijing will offer 700,000 free entrance tickets to scenic spots by the end of 2010 and publish specific measures for the ticket allocation before May 1, said Zhang Huiguang, head of the Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA), on March 29.
The new ticket allocation measures will help tourists apply for tickets and prolong the validity period of the tickets.
"In the future, special ticket gates for electronic entrance tickets are likely to be established in order to make travel services more convenient, individualized and intellectualized, as well as to develop a low-carbon environmentally-friendly tourist industry," Zhang added. Earlier, the BTA allocated 300,000 electronic entrance tickets during the Spring Festival holiday.
Zhang said that the city has already had 66 tourist service stations that have serviced over 6.3 million tourists and distributed over 5.1 million tourist brochures. To offer tourists individualized consulting services by providing comprehensive, detailed and real information, Beijing will build a world-class travel consulting Web site that covers tourist resources in Beijing's various areas.
Tourists just need to click a destination area on the Web site, and they can access relevant travel information such as hotels, scenic spots, food and beverage. In addition, several hundred thousand "Tourist Brochures on Travel around Beijing City" will be handed out to local residents through community committees and "Tips on Independent Travel in Beijing" brochures will be allocated to foreigners at airports and some hotels.
The local municipal government is seeking public bids in an attempt to stage one or two large culture-themed shows aimed at tourists in the second half of 2010.
By People's Daily Online
