Tibet reopens to foreign tourists

A three-month ban on foreign tourists visiting Tibet has been lifted on Tuesday. The ban was imposed after the March 14 riots in the Tibetan capital.

The first foreign tourists, two Swedes, are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday while another group from Singapore will arrive on Sunday.

Tibet has been open to mainland tourists since April 23 and people from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao were allowed to visit in May.

The lifting of the ban came three days after the Olympic torch relay was successfully held in Lhasa. Tanor, deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Bureau of Tourism, was quoted by China daily as saying that the success of the relay “demonstrated that the foundation for the social stability has been further consolidated.”

“The tourists can experience for themselves the stable situation, harmonious society and beautiful environment in Tibet,” he said.

According to Xinhua, the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railway two years ago has led to an increase in the number of tourists visiting the region. Last year, four million tourists visited the region, an increase of 60 percent from the year before. Tourism revenue, which accounted for more than 14 percent of the region's gross domestic product, reached 4.8 billion yuan (449.5 million euros).

China Daily said that prior to the riots, the regional government had expected the number of visitors to increase by 25 perecent year-on-year to hit 5 million by 2008 and tourism revenue to increase by 24 percent.

Tour operators are preparing for a surge in the number of visitors, the state media said.

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