(TibetanReview.net, Nov08’25) – Tourist sites in some countries in Europe, as well as Japan and others have been trying to limit tourist footfalls in recent times through various measures due to the adverse impact of what is called overtourism. However, this does not at all appear to be a problem in the environmentally fragile Himalayan territory of Tibet where the authorities’ push for more and ever more visitors continues to remain relentless.
Overtourism causes overcrowding, environmental degradation, strain on resources, and high costs for local residents.
The Xizang autonomous region received 63.7 million domestic and international tourists in the first three quarters of 2025, generating a cultural industry output of 11.25 billion yuan ($1.58 billion), reported China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Nov 7, citing Xizang Daily, using the recently standardized Chinese name for Tibet.
China’s most recent census data (2020) shows the region’s total population to be 3,648,100. This means that the number of visitors there in the first three quarters of this years was already more than 17 times the local population.
The region had set a target of about 61 million tourist visits by 2025 during its current 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, as reported by chinadaily.com.cn May 8, 2021.
During the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, TAR tapped into its vast cultural and natural resources while strengthening ties with education, sports, and other sectors. Events such as the First Tibet E-sports Animation Culture and Tourism Week and the Taste of Tibet Culinary campaign drew large crowds and created new opportunities for the region’s culture-tourism integration, the report said.
The report continued that building on existing cultural and tourism initiatives, the region had worked to diversify its industrial chain to offer richer and more dynamic products, with highlights including various cultural performances and ethnic concerts.
Tourists visiting Tibet are overwhelmingly Chinese. A non-Chinese foreigner can travel to the region only as a member of a tour group. They have to obtain a special permit, in addition to their Chinese visa.