China shuts out tourists from Tibet

The current insurrection in Tibet has convinced Chinese to all but close the doors to this culturally unique and remote land to foreign tourists. Most analysts believe that Tibet’s hermetic closure will endure, at least in the near future, and this will result in the near collapse of this society’s otherwise lucrative tourism industry. According to MSNBC, Chinese authorities announced late last week that foreign visitors will be barred from travelling to Tibet in the foreseeable future, but China did not say precisely how long the ban can be expected to last.
Official Chinese sources argue that the reason that Tibet had to be closed to foreign tourists is because the violent protests of the past several weeks have severely damaged the region’s infrastructure. Yet Tibet’s local tourism board told journalists that it believes this ban will be temporary and that all Tibetan cities will once again welcome tourists in the near future. Despite the insurrection, Tibetan tourist officials still believe that as many as 5.5 million domestic and foreign tourists may visit Tibet by the end of the year.

The Tibetan tourism and hospitality industry has witnessed impressive growth since 2006, thanks to the opening of a new railway line connecting the region to Peking. Last year, more than 4 million tourists travelled to this area, which represented a 60 percent increase over figures from previous years.