Tourism in Tibet rises by 11.5% despite riots

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The booming tourism in Tibet has been hit by the recent anti-China riots but it has still registered an 11.5 per cent rise in the first quarter, an official said.

Since the riots broke out on March 14, foreign tourists have been kept out of Tibet citing safety concerns. Tibet was reopened to domestic tourists on Thursday.

The first quarter saw arrival of 130,100 tourists, including 124,200 domestic tourists and 5,900 foreigners, a rise of 9.9 per cent and 59.8 per cent respectively, Zhanor, Deputy Director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Tourism Bureau, said in Lhasa.

Tibet received four million tourists from both home and abroad in 2007, a 60 per cent jump over 2006, he said, according to official Xinhua news agency.

The tourism revenue reached 4.8 billion yuan, accounting for more than 14 per cent of the region's gross domestic product.