Meteorological tourism an emerging market in China: report

ZHENGZHOU, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Meteorological tourism has grown continuously in China in recent years and will maintain a rapid growth trend in the coming years, forming an emerging tourism market, said a report released at a conference concluded Wednesday in central China's Henan Province.

The rapid development of meteorological tourism in China is primarily due to the public's increasing pursuit of unique meteorological experiences and tourism's continuous innovation and upgrading, according to the report on meteorological tourism development released by the China Meteorological Tourism Development Institute at the two-day Second China Meteorological Tourism Industry Development Conference.

The report said China's meteorological service industry is predicted to exceed 300 billion yuan (about 42 billion U.S. dollars) by 2025.

"The beautiful sunrise, the magnificent thunderstorm, the starry sky, ice and snow, rime and rainforest are all meteorological tourism resources," said Qu Ya, secretary general of China Meteorological Service Association.

Meteorological tourism resources are broadly divided into three categories. The first category is weather landscape resources such as clouds, rain, snow, light, and rare astronomical phenomena. The second category is climate and environmental resources such as climate-related health preservation, experience, and paleoclimate relics. The third category is humanistic meteorological resources such as meteorology and history, man-made landscapes and man-made facilities and buildings.