China's Xizang receives over 2 million tourists during Spring Festival holiday

LHASA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region received about 2.04 million visitors from Feb. 10 to 17 this year, up over 300 percent year on year, local authorities said.

According to the regional culture and tourism department, Xizang's tourism sector raked in more than 1.7 billion yuan (about 240 million U.S. dollars) -- an increase of 365 percent year on year.

A total of 130 inbound tourist groups from 35 countries, including Japan, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia, were received by the region during the eight-day Spring Festival holiday, the department added.

This year, the Tibetan New Year coincided with the Spring Festival, or the Lunar New Year, with both occurring on Feb. 10.