SHANGHAI - Shanghai has set a growth target of 70 percent in tourism revenues over the next five years to 2015, local authorities said on Wednesday.

The target is in line with the goal of China's financial and business center -- turning itself into a world-famous tourist destination, according to a seminar on Wednesday, which discussed the development of Shanghai's tourism industry.

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Shanghai is looking to earn 520 billion yuan ($78.9 billion) in tourism revenues by 2015. Last year, the industry generated 305.3 billion yuan, rising 30 percent year on year.

Shanghai wants to develop tourism into a strategic pillar industry, which is expected to create 300,000 jobs while contributing 8.5 percent to the city's gross development product by 2015, said Yu Zhengsheng, head of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.

By 2015, the city plans to attract 240 million visits by domestic tourists, which would require an annual increase of 2.3 percent. The city is also looking to attract 10 million overseas tourists, which would be a of 4.6 percent annual jump.

Last year, Shanghai received 215 million domestic tourists and 7.3 million overseas visitors.