Quake-hit Sichuan Province will invest about 80 billion yuan (US$11.6 billion) to restore its tourism industry, the province's top tourism official said on Tuesday.

Zhang Gu, the Sichuan Provincial Tourism Bureau director, told reporters in Beijing that the bureau had completed a post-quake reconstruction plan involving more than 300 projects.

The funding, 30 percent of which comes from the central budget, would be used to rebuild roads, hotels, restaurants and scenic spots, Zhang said.

The May 12 quake caused huge damage to tourists' confidence in Sichuan even though the disaster only hit part of the province, Zhang said, and it would be "an arduous task" to restore their confidence.

The quake cost Sichuan's tourism industry more than 50 billion yuan.

Sichuan has about 4,000 scenic sites. The quake affected 360 of them, most of which have reopened.

The Sichuan tourism bureau had invited travel agencies in Japan and the South korea to visit the province, Zhang said.

Official figures showed the 8.0 magnitude quake had left 69,225 dead and 17,923 missing in Sichuan and its neighboring areas.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2008)