Tibet Reopened to Foreign Tourists on June 25

Tibet will re-open to visits by foreign tourists on Wednesday, the local authority said Tuesday.

An official named Tanor, the Tibet regional tourism administration deputy director, said two Swedish tourists would arrive in Lhasa on Wednesday. Four others from Singapore would come Sunday.

The success of the recent torch relay proved Tibet to be more stabilized and the time was right to reopen, he said. "Tibet is safe. We welcome the domestic and foreign tourists."

(Source: China Tibet Information Center)

China Highlights has contacted our local agencies in Tibet immediately after we hear about this news to confirm the situation. The latest news is:

1. The local travel agencies are now waiting for the formal announcement from the Tibet Tourism Bureau, which is expeceted to arrive within this week. China Highlights will keep our customers informed when we get the latest news.
2. Tibet Travel Permit is still a must before you enter Tibet regions, but the policy is much more restricted than before. All the travel agencies are required to provide the full names list of a tour group to Tibet Tourism Bureau who will make a double check before issuing the permits. If one tourist in your group failed to meet the requirements for entering Tibet, the whole tour group will be refused to get the permits. See details of applying for a Tibet Travel Permit.
3. Some of Tibet attractions, such as Drepung Monastery, are still being repaired and unavailable to tourists. At present, a visit to a Tibetan family is also unavailable to tourists.

Tibet tourism was suspended after the riots broke out on March 14th, 2008. During the suspension, the government of Tibet Region tried their best to stabilize the society and repair the tourism facilities which were broken in the riots. The tourism practitioners improved the quality of their service in order to rebuild the reputation of Tibet tourism.

On April 23rd, 2008, Tibet was reopened to domestic tourists. 160 tour groups visited Tibet between April 23rd and June 20th. On June 21st, 2008, the Olympic torch was relayed successfully in Lhasa.

Please feel free to contact us for more Tibet information. China Highlights is always pleasant to answer your questions and to arrange you a safe and comfortable Tibet tour.