Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China, also known as the "roof of the world", played host to over 1.71 million tourists in the first 10 months of this year, up 46 percent over the same period last year.

Overseas tourists came to 113,396, up 31.6 percent. The region raked in 1.87 billion yuan (US$230.17 million US dollars) in tourist revenue from January to October, an increase of 35.1 percent from that of last year, according to the regional bureau of tourism.

The Himalayan region, with its unique natural landscape, negligible pollution, plenty of scenes in association with Tibetan culture as well as increasingly improved infrastructure for tourism, has become the first choice of many tourists when they decide to travel.

Wang Zhenbang, deputy secretary of the Lhasa City Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said tourism had become one of the pillar industries in Tibet.

The proportion of tourist revenue in the region's gross domestic product (GDP) has risen from 1.5 percent in 1990 to 6 percent in 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2005)