China's Tibet sees booming tourism in first 11 months

LHASA, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region received 40.43 million domestic and overseas tourists in the first 11 months of this year, up 15.9 percent year on year, local authorities said on Wednesday.

The region's tourism revenue surged 22.4 percent from a year earlier to 43.85 billion yuan (about 6.9 billion U.S. dollars) during the period, according to the regional tourism department.

The strong growth was partly due to the effective COVID-19 control in the region.

By Tuesday, Tibet had reported no new confirmed or suspected cases for nearly 700 consecutive days, according to the local health commission.

Preferential policies for Tibet's winter tourism have also been introduced to spur the region's tourism growth, including lower hotel prices and free entrance at many tourist attractions from mid-October to the end of the year.