Tibet sees record tourist numbers in 2013
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Tibet saw a record number of visitor arrivals in 2013, as Chinese visitors flocked to the region.
According to the latest data from the Tibet Tourism Bureau, reported by Xinhua, a total of 12.91 million people travelled to Tibet last year, marking year-on-year growth of 22%. This total only included 223,000 international visitors however, or just 1.7% of total arrivals. The number of international arrivals to Tibet increased 15%.
The region’s tourism revenues also saw strong growth in 2013, rising 31% to CNY16.5 billion (US$2.7bn). According to authorities, Buddhist sites including the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Zhaxi Lhunbo Monastery were the most popular tourist attractions last year, although no official visitor figures were provided for these sites.
The regional tourism bureau said it expects visitor numbers to increase to 15m per year by 2015. International visitors still need to obtain an official travel permit prior to visiting Tibet.
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