(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-03 10:10

LHASA -- A trickle of Chinese tourists began arriving in ethnic Tibetan areas of West China over the May Day holiday, sparking hopes of a revival in the tourism industry after the unrest in March.

The Tourism Administration of Tibet Autonomous Region said about 200 people were expected to come to Tibet in small groups during the three-day holiday. Bigger groups of more than 50 would arrive after May 5 and about 600 visitors were expected around mid-May.

However, the region is still closed to foreign tourists for the foreseeable future.

"We are planning to open Tibet to foreign tourists, but the specific date is not decided yet as the time is not right. However, it will not take long," said Tanor, deputy director of the regional tourism administration.

"More than 20 tourist groups with 200 people will arrive in Tibet during the three-day holiday. The number used to be 5,000 tourists per day last year in May Day Holiday," said Tanor.

Hotel and tour operators were upbeat about the prospects of more guests arriving as the summer drew on.

"Lhasa seems busier and livelier than what I imagined," said Wang Fujun, who was taking photos at the square outside the Potala Palace. Wang arrived in Lhasa on Wednesday from southwest city of Chengdu.

Tibet resumed receiving domestic tourist groups in late April and received its first group on April 24 since the March 14 riot. However, independent Chinese travelers have not been prohibited from entering the region.

Increasing groups and independent tourists visited the holy land since then and the first "May Day Holiday" group arrived on late Wednesday, said Xu Jianmin, manager of the Lhasa Travel Agency.

"We finally received the 32-member group which had been expected for a long time," Xu said. He believed tourism in Lhasa would increase after the May Day Holiday.

Tour bus driver Liu Zhenhu said his business was slowly recovering in the run up to the peak season. "Although the March 14 riot caused great losses, Lhasa is still regarded by tourists as sacred," he said.

The remote Himalayan region has seen a tourism boom, especially since the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, which linked Tibet with the rest of China for the first time by train in July 2006.

Tibet received 4 million tourists from home and abroad in 2007, up 60 percent from 2006. Tourism revenue reached 4.8 billion yuan (US$687 million), accounting for more than 14 percent of the region's gross domestic product.

Other venerated Buddhist areas, which had been rocked by riots in the southwest Sichuan and the northwest Gansu provinces, also saw an increase in tourists over the second national public holiday since the riot.

"The scenery here is still beautiful and pure," said a young woman who was visiting Larang Monastery, in Xiahe county of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in Gansu Province.

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