Tibet's tourist arrivals plunged 36 percent year-on-year during China's recent National Day holiday when 257,000 people visited the "Roof of the world."

Only 110,900 tourists stayed overnight in Tibet, a drop of 41.5 percent from a year ago; one-day tourists were 146,100, down 31.1 percent, according to Zhanor, a deputy chief of the region's tourism department.

The tourism sector of the plateau region generated 81.49 million yuan (about 11.88 million U.S. dollars) in total earnings, down 38.9 percent.

"Comparing this year's golden-week holiday with that of last year, there were notable decreases in terms of tourist arrivals and relevant earnings as a result of the March 14 Lhasa unrest," Zhanor said. "But tourist confidence in traveling in Tibet is returning according to the situation in the previous months and the region's tourism is recovering."

The national holiday, which fell on Oct. 1 and marked the 1949 founding of the People's Republic of China, started on Sept. 29 and ended Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency October 6, 2008)