Ecotourism helps shake off poverty in Tibet

Lunang village transformed; last year it welcomed more than 1 million tourists

A popular tourism destination that opened in recent years in the Tibet autonomous region's rural Nyingchi city has helped local residents shake off poverty.

Lunang, which was transformed from a primitive pastoral village to an international tourism town, was a key poverty alleviation project that received an investment of about 3.8 billion yuan ($566 million) from Guangdong province. It opened to the public in March 2017 and welcomed more than 1 million tourists last year. It became the most popular destination within Nyingchi, according to its management committee.

The tourism boom has brought local residents more business opportunities and benefits. Lhakpa Tsring, 41, moved into the town when construction was completed and opened a family hotel in July. Formerly, he ran a small restaurant nearby and earned an annual profit of about 200,000 yuan. Last year, his newly refurbished hotel brought in a profit of nearly 500,000 yuan.

Lhakpa Tsring has six siblings, five of whom are engaged in the same business. They all live a better life now with more tourists pouring into the town to take in its natural scenery.

To help local people capitalize on the developing tourism industry, the committee organized regular training classes on how to provide better services and improve food quality. Lhakpa Tsring, for example, had a chance to go to Lhasa, the regional capital, to learn cooking. The trip inspired him to innovate his menu after returning home.