Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China received 659,000 Chinese and overseas visitors in the first 11 months of 2001, up 16.5 percent over the figure a year ago.

Tourist income of the period totaled 680 million yuan (US$ 82.2 million), an increase of 4.3 percent on a year-on-year basis, a regional tourist department official said.

Due to the influence of the September 11 terrorist attack in New York and Washington and the royal tragedy in Nepal, the number of overseas tourists to Tibet dropped by 20 percent at 110,000. But domestic visitors rose to 548,000, up by 28.7 percent, said the official.

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2002)