China's tourism continued to boom as for the first time investment in the sector reached one trillion yuan (USD152 billion) in 2015, registering 42 per cent year-on-year growth.
The sharp rise comes in spite of a deceleration in investment growth in general, Li Jinzao, head of China National Tourism Administration said.
In the first 11 months of 2015, China's fixed-asset investment grew 10.2 per cent year-on-year, a decline from an annual high of 13.9 per cent for the first two months.
Chinese government tourism statistics say that Chinese outbound tourists had spent a record USD 164.8 billion overseas in 2014.
Keen to tap into this growth sector, companies that are not traditionally in tourism also began to look into opportunities, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The top three Internet giants -- Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent -- together channelled 16 billion yuan (USD 2.44 billion) into the industry in 2015, while property and entertainment giant Dalian Wanda Group allocated over 700-billion yuan (USD 106.6 billion) to business and cultural travel projects.
The National Tourism Administration estimates that direct investment into tourism will surpass three trillion yuan in the next three years.
While investment picked up, tourism consumption was also robust in 2015.
Earlier data showed that Chinese citizens made over four billion domestic trips and 120 million overseas, ranking first globally.
"Tourism has become a new engine for China's economic growth," Li said.
The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that China's tourism could contribute 10.1 per cent to its GDP, surpassing sectors such as banking, education, and automobiles.
