(Yicai Global) Jan. 26 -- Some 1.39 billion travelers engaged in forest tourism in China last year, per statistics the country's State Forestry Administration released today.

Their trips accounted for about 28 percent of China's domestic travel.

The number of tourists heading to various types of forest tourism destinations in China has risen rapidly in recent years, the administration told Yicai Global. The country has 9,000 such attractions including forest and wetland parks, up from 8,000 five years ago.

The revenue the forest tourism industry directly generated rose to CNY140 billion (USD22.2 billion) last year from CNY61.8 billion in 2012 with an annual growth rate of over 18 percent.

The forest tourism's rapid development has enabled some locations to grow trees rather than cut them by selling landscapes and ecology instead of wood, a State Forestry Administration official said.