Chinese tourists may experience a different Spring Festival in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which will hold a "Dubai Shopping Festival" in late January and early February.

More Chinese people get to know about Egypt through cultural weeks and other tourism promotions, thus increasing the number of Chinese tourists, said Naser Abdel Aal, an Egyptian tourism attache in China.

Egypt conducted the Egyptian tourist and cultural festival in Beijing in July and the Egyptian cultural week in Shanghai in November.

Some 32,000 Chinese visitors went to Egypt in 2004, and the number may hit a record 40,000, he said.

To promote tourism exchanges with the Arab world, China signed a cooperative pact with Lebanon on Dec. 9, following Egypt, Jordan and Tunis -- three China's tourism destinations, and Morocco and Syria as well.

China's gross domestic product per capita exceeded 1,000 US dollars in 2003 and the individual foreign exchange reserve totaled 900 billion dollars. The country also allow more freedom on the use of foreign currencies on private trips.

According to predictions by the World Tourism Organization, China will be the world's largest tourism destination in 2017 and will welcome 137 million overseas travelers by 2020.

Source: Xinhua