The annual number of tourists visiting the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) by the year 2015 will be more than five times the region’s current official population of less than three million, according to Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency. At 15 million, the number of tourists will be more than double the present figure, the report said.
In 2010 alone, tourists to Tibet numbered 6.85 million, up 380 percent from 2005. In that year 7.14 billion yuan was generated from tourism, up 370 percent from five years earlier.
“Tibet will focus on building (itself as) an important world tourism destination,” the report said. The region also hopes to more than double its income from tourism by 2015 to around 16 billion yuan (US$2.42 billion) a year, creating more than 300,000 jobs, the report added.
The Chinese government statement came during the ongoing fourth session of the Ninth TAR People's Congress.
Some information for this report was provided by IANS, Reuters and Xinhua
