Last year saw tourist visits to Tibet increase by 60% sparking fears for the area’s cultural and environmental stability.
The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, accused Chinese officials of ‘cultural genocide’ citing the rampant expansion of obtrusive infrastructure and the influx of China’s majority Han population.
Despite the construction of airports and a rail link from the capital, Lhasa, to Xining in Qinghai province, Tibet’s underdeveloped transport network is under increasing strain from tourist numbers that now outnumber the region’s population.
Allegations that the tourist industry is controlled from outside the region by wealthy Han Chinese, with little benefit to Tibetans, have furthered the controversy.
