Tibet attracts over 13m tourists in H1

China's southwest Tibet autonomous region received more than 13 million visitors in the first half of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 20 percent, according to the Tibet Tourism Development Department.

In the first half of the year, the region's travel revenue hit 14.93 billion yuan ($2.17 billion), up 19.8 percent year-on-year, according to the department.

Among the total tourists received, 118,600 were inbound tourists, an increase of 53.5 percent year-on-year, while more than 13.29 million were domestic tourists, increasing by 20 percent year-on-year.

Thanks to the region's overall tourism initiatives, an increasing number of rural residents are also benefiting from the growing tourism industry.