ULAN BATOR, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia will organize an annual winter game festival in its capital here next month, with the aim to promote the development of winter tourism, the press office of Ulan Bator's Tourism Department said Thursday.
The 10th edition of the festival will be held at the Sky Resort ski resort in southern Ulan Bator on Feb. 8-9, the department said in a statement.
The "Ulan Bator Winter Festival" aims to boost winter tourism by promoting Mongolia's beautiful winter landscape, customs, heritage and unique culture to the world and passing down the traditions and customs to the younger generation, it said.
The two-day event will feature winter sports competitions such as figure skating, hockey, skiing, snowboarding, ice climbing and dog sledding, as well as cultural activities, including folk concerts and a fashion show featuring national costumes.
Currently, Mongolia's economy is largely dependent on its export-oriented mining sector. Developing the tourism industry is seen as the most viable solution to diversifying the country's economy.
Mongolia has set itself a goal of receiving 1 million foreign tourists and earning 1 billion U.S. dollars from tourism in 2020.
Last year, the country received about 577,300 foreign tourists, 32.7 percent of them from China.
