China will become the world's top tourist destination before 2020, Francesco Frangialli, secretary general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said.

During the ceremony, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Dalian received "Top Chinese tourist city" awards from UNWTO and China National Tourism Administration (NTA).  According to Francesco Frangialli, China overtook Italy to be the world's fourth most popular destination last year.

The UNWTO has predicted that China will nudge ahead of the U.S. to become the world's top tourist destination by 2020.

Inspired by the country's economic growth and policy of reform and opening up, the tourism industry has expanded at blinding speed. From 1978 to 2005, the number of inbound tourists and revenues from inbound tourism increased 66-fold and 111-fold, respectively.

China's tourism industry is expected to notch up a new record with revenue hitting one trillion yuan this year, up ten percent from 2006, the NTA predicted.

China earned 33.5 billion U.S. dollars from tourism last year, making the country the sixth highest tourism revenue earner globally.

Source:未知