Tibet announces incentives for travel agents to revive tourism
Tibet has announced attractive bonuses for travel agents to woo foreign tourists and revive local tourism, which was badly hurt by the worst anti-China riots by pro-Dalai Lama Tibetans in March this year.
Travel agencies will get bonuses for taking more tour groups to Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, the local government announced.
Gyangkar, chief of the Lhasa City Tourism Bureau, said on Tuesday that the city government has set aside one million Yuan (about USD 142,857) in hopes of reviving the tourism market, which was devastated after the March 14 Lhasa riot.
Under the plan, which is valid from August 15 to December 30, a travel agency can get 50,000 yuan for organising a charter flight with at least 100 foreign tourists. An agency can get the same incentive for a 600-person train tour of the picturesque Himalayan region.
The same reward will be paid to agencies that bring in 1,000-2,000 foreign tourists this year. Foreign tourist arrivals of more than 2,000 this year will yield a double reward for an agency.
Lhasa, known as the “City of Sunshine”, has long been considered one of the purest places on Earth. Tibet has more than 300 scenic sites, many of which are in or around Lhasa.
But tourism to the region plummeted after the March unrest, in which 19 people died and many schools, hospitals, homes and shops were damaged by arson. The region was off-limits to tourists for some time. Domestic tourists began to return in late April, but overseas ones didn’t do so until June 25.
Tibet had 370,000 tourist arrivals in July, which was more than the first-half total of 340,000 but well below the year-earlier figure of 607,668. Tourism had emerged as a major livelihood of Tibetans in recent years, especially in Lhasa after China introduced train services to the remote region.