Paid holidays plan to be launched soon: minister

A plan to promote paid holidays will soon be published by the State Council, in a bid to boost domestic consumption, Shao Qiwei, minister of the National Tourism Administration, said on Thursday.

The Outline for National Tourism and Leisure (2013-2030) will be a guideline for developing consumption of tourism products and increase their percentage in the total consumption figures of urban and rural residents, Shao said at the annual national tourism work conference.

According to Shao, the revenue of China's tourism industry is expected to grow 14 percent to 2.57 trillion yuan ($413.5 billion) in 2012, of which 2.22 trillion yuan will be from the domestic market.

The ministry has set the revenue target for 2013 at 2.85 trillion yuan, 11 percent more than in 2012. Revenue from outward tourism was expected to grow even faster at 15 percent.