Scenic spots in the quake zone will definitely not reopen in the short term, an official from the Sichuan Tourism Bureau said.
Another bureau official estimated tourism infrastructure losses at 500 billion yuan but said it was too soon to estimate lost revenue.
“We had expected a 10 percent year-on-year growth in revenue as of July but now we are unlikely to meet that target,” said the official, who asked not to be named.
Sichuan’s tourism revenue of 121.73 billion yuan compared with the province’s GDP of 1.05 trillion yuan last year, government figures showed.
Gazquez, the tour operator, said he is trying to develop new itineraries for his clients while avoiding areas that remain off limits.
“We want to bring people here because now I think tourism is very important for Sichuan, for reconstruction of the place,” he said.
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