ULAN BATOR, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Tourists to Mongolia increased in the first half of the year, up 9.7 percent from a year earlier, data released by the National Statistical Office of Mongolia on Wednesday indicated.

From January to June, 238,100 tourists visited the East Asian country, compared to some 217,000 during the same period last year. Neighbors China and Russia together contributed the most of the foreign tourists, accounting for 38.7 percent and 24 percent respectively.

Declaring 2018 tourism year, landlocked Mongolia has been striving to develop its tourism in a bid to diversify its mining-dependent economy.

In 2017, the tourism revenue was over 400 million U.S. dollars.

Mongolia has set a goal of attracting 1 million foreign tourists in 2020, earning 1 billion dollars.