Entrance tickets to Potala Palace sold like hot cakes in
railway-linked Tibet last year, but political advisors and
legislators here worry that more tourists will be disappointed by
scant ticket supplies.
Tourism to Tibet is soaring with the operation of the new
railway line which opened last July, running from Xining in
northwest China to Lhasa in southwest China.
As the train races across the Lhasa Bridge, Potala Palace can be
clearly seen in the background. But it has become harder to get
into the sacred complex as only a limited number of entrance
tickets are available each day, said Ngoezhub Puncog, who is
attending the annual session of China's top political advisory
body, which opened on Saturday.
Ngoezhub Puncog, a member of the National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from
Tibet, told Xinhua that in the best tourist season last year, about
4,500 to 5,000 visitors came to Lhasa each day, but Potala Palace
placed a 2,300-tickets-per-day cap on tourist admittance.
It means hundreds of thousands of tourists miss the chance of
visiting the famous palace every year, he said.
The 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet railway ended the region's history of
no railway and connected it more closely with the rest of the
world. The engineering miracle provides travelers with cheaper and
safer access to the Roof of the World.
About 2.45 million visitors landed in Tibet last year, up 40
percent from 2005, and more than 90 percent were domestic
travelers. The region reported a total tourism revenue of 2.6
billion yuan (US$342 million), accounting for 9.5 percent of local
GDP last year.
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Local tourism officials expect to host three to four million this
year, daunting numbers given Tibet's current population of 2. 7
million.
"It may look prosperous, but problems are lurking around and
should not be neglected," Ngoezhub Puncog said, adding that limited
reception capability indicated Tibet's tourism industry not yet
fully developed to cope with growing number of visitors.
Local hotels can not offer high-level services and lack market
experience, said Losang, who has come from Tibet to attend the
annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), which is
slated to open on March 5.
The number of hotels in Tibet reached 606 by the end of last
December, a year-on-year rise of 16.5 percent. However, Losang said
they must improve the management level to better serve the
flourishing tourism.
He was also concerned about the poor performance of local tour
guides, as he found some of them gave distorted introductions and
explanations about some temples and palaces.
He suggested more regional tourist routes be developed to divert
visitors from over-burdened Lhasa, listing Nyingchi and Shannan in
south Tibet as good destinations.
Nyingchi Airport, Tibet's third after Lhasa and Qamdo, went into
operation just two months after the railway started operation,
making it easier to get to the spectacular grand canyon of Yarlung
Zangbo River.
New well-developed tourist attractions will also ensure a
healthy expansion of local tourism industry, Losang said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2007)