LHASA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Tibet will reopen to tourists from both home and abroad on May 1, the region's Bureau of Tourism announced on Thursday.

    Zhanor, the bureau's deputy director, said all travel agencies would be allowed to arrange tours, and independent travelers would also be welcome.

    The regional government stopped issuing tourist permits to foreigner travelers on March 16 and the bureau recommended Chinese travel organizations postpone tour plans after the March 14 riot in Lhasa.

    Zhang Qingli, secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, said earlier that normal social order should be brought back as soon as possible to embrace for tourist arrivals during the International Labor Day holiday.

    Tibet's "open image and sound environment" would be presented to the visitors, the official said.

    The riots erupted in the holy city on March 14. Rioters set fire to more than 300 locations, including shops, homes, banks, government offices, and smashed and burned 56 vehicles, mainly in downtown Lhasa.

    In the wake of the outbreak of the riot, the regional government, which did not impose a ban on travelers to the region,"suggested travel agencies suspend organizing tourists to come to Tibet," said Wang Songping, deputy director of the regional tourism bureau.

    In addition to safety concerns, Wang explained the decision as "Tourism facilities around scenic spots, such as the Jokhang temple, have suffered considerable damages in the riot, lowering the reception capability."Following the turmoil, the Tibetan region's foreign affairs office suspended issuing travel permits to foreigners, citing safety concerns.

    Over the past few years, especially with the official operation of Qinghai-Tibet Railway in July 2006, the first railway to connect Tibet with the outside world, tourism has developed into a pillar industry in this northwest China's plateau region.

    In the first two months of the year, the tourism business grew robustly in the region, greeting 110,000 tourists, including 6,000 from the overseas, up 60 percent year on year. The March figure has not been released, but March is never the tourism peak season for Tibet, local tourism officials said.

    Tourists visiting the plateau city these days would find by chance they need not stand in a line for these hard-to-get tickets. On March 26, ten days after it was closed for security reasons over the riots, the Potala Palace was reopened to tourists.

    In the first day, however, only 24 tourists and 75 Tibetan Buddhism followers stepped into the palace, which is on the world cultural heritage list.

    Despite the shadow of the Lhasa riot over the hearts of tourists, the spectacular natural sceneries and unique cultural attractions of Tibet would always lure an ever-increasing number of tourists, both domestic and foreign, said Zhanuo, deputy director of the regional tourism bureau.

    So far, 80 percent of the stores damaged in the riot have successively come back into operation. Except for those in the severely inflicted Barkhor Street and Ramoche Temple regions, all other leading shops, supermarkets and farm produce fairs have re-opened in Lhasa.

    Tibet received 4 million tourists from both home and abroad in 2007, up 60 percent from 2006. The tourism revenue reached 4.8 billion yuan (677million U.S. dollars), accounting for more than 14 percent of the region's gross domestic product.

    The remote southwestern region has seen a tourism boom in the past few years, especially since the Qinghai-Tibet railway began operation in July 2006.

Source:Xinhua