[Photo by Ke Haitian/For China Daily]

The latest official statistics show that 47,700 tourists, from China and other countries, used the Dandong Customs to enter the DPRK in 2012, an increase of about 10 percent from 2011, said an official surnamed Han from the border office of the Dandong Tourism Bureau.

"We didn't collect statistics for 2013. Because of tensions on the Korean Peninsula, overland tourism to the DPRK was halted for several months that year," he said.

Qu Chengguo, manager of the Dandong-based Chosun Tours, said: "We have experienced a sharp decline in the number of Chinese tourists this year, not because of the political climate in the DPRK, but mainly because of the Chinese government’s austerity campaigns and stricter regulations on overseas travel for officials."

He added that in terms of Chinese tourists, the prospects for 2014 look gloomy, but said he expected a greater number of non-Chinese tourists.

Chosun Tours took more than 3,000 tourists to the DPRK in 2012, and sends groups to Pyongyang every two or three days. "Previously, our clients were nearly all Chinese, but now there are non-Chinese tourists in each of our tour groups," Qu said.

The decline in the number of Chinese tourists has resulted in local operators working hard to attract visitors from other countries. "We're well known among the local Chinese community, but not many Westerners know about us because of a lack of English-language promotions. We are planning to improve our English services to reach a larger number of Western clients," said Qu.

Han Junhong contributed to this story.

Related:

A journey into the past

Tourists' tales