(Yicai) Feb. 20 -- Guangdong, China's most economically developed province, ranked first among the country's provincial-level regions for the number of visitors and revenue from tourism over the eight-day lunar new year holiday. 

Guangdong welcomed 76.1 million tourists during the holiday that ended Feb. 17, up 68 percent from a year earlier and 20 percent from the level of 2019, according to data from its culture and tourism department. Tourism-related revenue surged 161 percent to nearly CNY70 billion (USD9.7 billion) year on year, rising 40 percent from 2019.

Southwestern Sichuan province ranked second for tourists after receiving nearly 60.5 million over the holiday, while more than 50 million visited the provinces of Yunnan, Jiangsu, and Henan. Hunan has tourism revenue of CNY65.2 billion, while Yunnan's reached CNY63.7 billion.

Local governments in China have made tourism a focus of development. Last year, Liaoning invested heavily to boost the growth of industries related to culture and tourism. The cultural tourism conference the northeastern province hosted last June played a great role in spurring the sector, Liang Qidong, vice president of Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told Yicai earlier.

Liaoning received about 40.9 million tourists during this year's Chinese New Year holiday, up 300 percent from a year ago and 65 percent from the level of 2019. Its tourism revenue skyrocketed 573 percent to CNY41.3 billion (USD5.7 billion) compared with the year-earlier period and surged 149 percent on 2019, while spending per head exceeded CNY1,000 (USD140). 

The southwestern municipality of Chongqing released an action plan on Feb. 5, launching 100 measures to boost tourism and build the city into a globally renowned travel destination. Hubei province also held a conference on growing tourism last month. 

Editor: Martin Kadiev