More than 1.1 million tourists traveled to Tibet (Photos) in the first six months of the year, up 86.3 percent over the same period last year, according to the local tourism authority.

 

 

The booming influx of tourists brought 990.3 million yuan (US$130 million) in revenue to the Himalayan region, an increase of 92.1 percent, statistics from the tourism bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region show.

 

More than one million of the tourists were Chinese and 73,000 came from abroad, spending almost US$24 million.

 

Tourism officials attributed the growth in tourist numbers to promotional efforts and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which began operation on July 1, 2006.

 

The world's highest railway line linking the Tibetan capital of Lhasa to the rest of China carried 1.5 million passengers into Tibet in its first year.

 

The number of tourists flying to Tibet increased slightly in the first six months while more people chose to drive their own vehicles.

 

This year Tibet expects to host three million tourists bringing in 3.4 billion yuan (US$447 million), according to the regional development and reform commission.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2007)