More tourists are good, say Tibet leaders
17/10/2007 10:13
The Tibetan plateau is ready to host more tourists, an official of the
Tibet Autonomous Region said yesterday.
Tourism is both
environment-friendly and promises quick wealth to the underdeveloped southwest
China region, he said.
"It's not that too many tourists are coming to
Tibet - there are too few of them," said Hao Peng, deputy secretary of the Tibet
Regional Communist Party Committee and a delegate to the Party's national
congress in Beijing.
He rejected reports that criticized tourism as
detrimental to Tibet's ecology.
Figures from local tourism
administrations show Tibet has received 3.5 million tourists this year, compared
with 50 million who visited Yunnan Province, also in southwest China, Hao
said.
"Covering 1.2 million square kilometers, Tibet far outsizes
Yunnan," he said during a group discussion of the Tibet delegation to the
congress.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway that started operation in July last
year instantly drove up that year's total tourist arrivals to 2.5
million.
About 3.8 million people are expected to visit Tibet this year,
bringing four billion to five billion yuan (US$513 million to US$641 million) of
tourism revenue.
"Developing tourism does not necessarily contradict
environment preservation," Hao said. "Despite the rising number of tourists, the
air quality in Lhasa remains good almost all year round."
He said Tibet
has stepped up measures to prevent pollution in recent years.
"Plastic
bags are no longer provided free at Lhasa stores and supermarkets, and many
locals voluntarily clean up garbage at major tourist
destinations."
Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the regional government, said
a few million tourists will not have much impact on Tibet's
environment.
"We don't foresee any problem even if there are twice as
many."
His government has moved to protect the Potala Palace and some
other cultural heritage sites from damage.
Xinhua
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