(TibetanReview.net, Oct14’24) – In its relentless push to attract more, and ever more Chinese to visit western Tibet (or Tibet Autonomous Region, TAR), China has identified over 4,000 new tourism development sites in its capital Lhasa. However, there is so far little or no known study of tourism’s impact on the territory’s people, environment, society, and culture.
This bears relevance as the number of tourists visiting the region, who are overwhelmingly from China, exceeded 15 times the local population of 3.66 million as of last year.
Over 4,000 new tourism development sites have been identified in Lhasa since a survey began last October, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Oct 14, citing the city’s culture and tourism bureau.
The report said most of these tourism resources are natural landscapes, which will attract more tourists and bring incomes to local residents.
The report noted that as an ancient city with a history of more than 1,300 years, Lhasa is among the cities in the People’s Republic of China that have the most cultural relics and documents. From January to July, the autonomous region received over 42 million domestic and international tourists, up 16.65% year-on-year, the report said.
In 2023, TAR saw a record 55.17 million visitors throughout the year, a massive 83.7% increase compared to the previous years, reported China’s state media. The region was stated to have earned a total tourism revenue of CNY 65.1 billion ($9.4 billion), reflecting a 60% increase from 2022. Only around 20,000 of the visitors were reported to be from countries other than China.
This year, by mid-2024, over 20 million tourists had visited TAR, with the vast majority being Chinese nationals, reported China’s state media.