Tibet Sees a "Golden Age" in Tourism IndustryAs the main supporting and featuring industry in Tibet, the tourism has entered into a booming "golden age". In 2000, Tibet hosted a total of 565,000 arrivals, an increase of 32 percent over that of 1999, hitting a record high of 500,000 in industry history.It has realized a direct income of RMB650 million yuan while the indirect income is up to RMB3.26 billion yuan, accounting for 6 percent and 27.8 percent of the total GDP in Tibet respectively. Tibet is witnessing an all-time booming tourist industry this year. The past 20 years has seen a remarkable progress made in Tibet tourism since it was initiated in early 1980s. During the Ninth Five-year Plan period, it received altogether 2.025 million tourists, with an average yearly increase of 20.5 percent, achieving a direct income of RMB 1.96 billion yuan, a yearly increase of 29.6 percent. Therefore, tourism is playing an increasingly leading role in promoting the tertiary industry in Tibet. In recent years, Tibet has strengthened the infrastructure construction and management, exploited the market, and upgraded the service quality in tourism industry on a big scale. At present, there are altogether 144 tourist enterprises in Tibet, with fixed assets of over RMB900 million yuan and over 6,000 employees plus more than 30,000 persons employed indirect for this industry. By PD Online staff member Huang Ying |
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