Xizang vows to improve services in effort to attract foreign tourists

The Xizang autonomous region will open more international flight routes, enrich its inbound tourism routes and products, and improve entry, language translation and payment services to attract more international tourists to enjoy its magnificent natural landscapes and its rich and unique ethnic culture, said Xu Zhitao, vice-chairman of the autonomous region, at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday.

As a popular tourist destination, Xizang received 55.17 million visits by domestic and foreign tourists last year, up 83.7 percent year-on-year, and its total tourism revenue reached 65.1 billion yuan ($8.99 billion), a year-on-year increase of 60 percent, both hitting historical highs, data from local authorities showed.

Nearly 20,000 foreign tourists visited Xizang in 2023. The number of foreign visitors already topped 4,300 in the first quarter of this year, before the peak tourism season between May and October.