ULAN BATOR, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A two-day winter game festival kicked off near the Mongolian capital on Saturday, aiming to boost tourism.
"The event called 'Ulan Bator's Winter Game Festival' is part of our efforts to attract both domestic and foreign tourists to the capital city by boosting winter tourism. We are planning to organize this festival every year," Tsend Enkhtuvshin, deputy head of Ulan Bator's tourism department, told Xinhua.
Around 900 athletes, including 20 from China, attended the festival, he said.
Under its first edition, the festival includes winter sports competitions such as figure skating, hockey, skiing, snowboarding, ice climbing and dog sledding, as well as cultural activities, such as folk concerts.
Mongolia has been striving to develop its tourism sector in a bid to diversify its mining-dependent economy.
The Asian country has set itself the goal of hosting 1 million foreign tourists and earning 1 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.
