Tourism Industry In Tibet Tourism Essay

Tourism Industry In Tibet Tourism EssayThe Tibet Autonomous Region, covering an argona of 1.22 one thousand million squ atomic number 18 kilometres, is situated on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the south-western border area of mainland China. It enjoys unique plateau environment. Averaging more than 4,000 meters in elevation, it is al ways regarded as the highest region in the world and is known as the roof of the world. Tibet abuts on Xinjiang, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan province. It has 3,842 km borders with Chinas neighbouring countries of Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal as well as Kashmir in the south and west (Zhang Zheng 2004). Tourism is playing an more and more crucial role in Tibets tertiary industry. Even though these is unique natural and culture tourism resources, tourism were weakened in Tibet very late. anterior Chinas reform and opening-up policies in 1978, there was almost no tourism in Tibet. After about 30 years, tourism in Tibet has become much more verit able, especi eithery after the Qinghai-Tibet dividing line has been completed and operated. In 2008, there were 2,246,400 tourists visiting Tibet, which bigger than the total number of tourists who went to Tibet between 1980 and 1997(China Tibetology Research Centre 2009). ( paradigm 2)Figure 2 Changes in Tibets Tourism R counterbalanceues and Number of Tourists Between 1980 and 2008figure 2.jpgSource Tibet Statistical Yearbook 20092.3 SWOT analysisTo understanding the characteristics of tourism in Tibet and its internal strengths and weaknesses and outer opportunities and threats, SWOT analysis will be presented.StrengthDiverse tourism resources. Tibets long history, splendid culture and its unique plateau environment are all important attractions of Tibet.Regional strength. As Chinas border areas, Tibet borders with India, Nepal, and Myanmar etc.Political strength. The implementation of the strategy for the development of the western region of China gave Tibet powerful politica l support(Meng Huang 2007).Weaknesses budding transportation.Lack of overall strategy.Poor infrastructure. The number of hotels, travel agencies and facilities cannot meet the developing demands of visitors (Meng Huang 2007).OpportunitiesGovernment support. The Chinese government not only operate some authorities but also invest huge amount of money into tourism development of Tibet.Huge demand of tourism market. Domestic tourism demand is growing and some balancerictive factors affecting the tourism demand has been alleviated (Meng Huang 2007).Economic development of China.ThreatsStiff competitionRelationship between development and protectionFigure 3 SWOT analysis of tourism in Tibet2.4 Tourism marketThese years, the number of tourists visiting Tibet soars. Since 1980, the Tibets tourism market can be separated into collar stages. Firstly, from 1980s to 1990s, internationalist visitors dominated the tourism market. However, from 1990s, domestic visitors increased rapidly. For instance, in 1996 the number of international visitors is 2500 while as domestic visitors is 250,000 (Tan 2006). In 2004, the number of visitors even surpassed one million. The third stage is from 2006, when the Qinghai-Tibet railway system has been completed and operated. The number of domestic visitors changed tremendously, reaching five million in 2010.2.5 Proposed growth value3. Transport trunk in Tibet3.1 Responsible agencies and firmsThe government of China is the main organizer of the braid of Tibets transport system. Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in October 1949, the state invested huge amounts of pecuniary resource in Tibets transport construction. The transportation within Tibet and between the autonomous region and other places has been fundamentally changed. Take Qinghai-Tibet Railway bear for instance, the Central Government has invested rough US$3.17 billion in it. In addition to the investment, Chinese government also drew up a series o f new principles and policies to assure that the construction of transport in Tibet will be processed smoothly, among which the western development strategy is the most significant one. With this strategys implementation and the close attention of the regional government, slap-up effort has been taken to support the development of Tibet transport system.3.2 Existing transport systemBefore 1949, there was no road in Tibet. Through the beautiful mountains and vast plateau plains, caravans journeyed on dangerous paths with heavy loads. However, cur admitly, the transportation network is in place, with passage transport as the main part, supplemented by rail and var. transportation.Road transportationSince the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, the decades of construction has brought Tibet four inter-provincial roads connecting Tibet with Sichuan, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Yunnan. The major roads include Qinghai-Tibet Highway, Sichuan-Tibet Highway, Xinjiang-Tibet Highway, Yunnan-Tibe t Highway and China-Nepal International Road. The travel routes indoors the region are formed on a road network with the major roads and their branches.At the end of 2008, including these five national highways, there are altogether 15 trunk lines and 315 feeder lines in Tibet, and the total length of the roads in the autonomous region reached 51,314 kilometres. Over 92 percent of the town and nearly 72 percent of the administrative villages gravel been connected with roads.Figure 3 Road Map of Tibettibet-road-map.jpgSource www.discovertibettour.com/tibet-maps.htmlFigure 4 Major consistency HighwaysQinghai-Tibet HighwayFrom Xining in Qinghai to Lhasa in TibetKnown as the lifeline of the autonomous region, the highway caries more than 80percent of goods into or out of Tibet. The 2,122 km highway is paved with asphalt. Rising over 4,000 meters above sea take aim, it crosses the Kunlun and Tanggula mountains.Sichuan-Tibet HighwayFrom Chengdu in Sichuan to Lhasa in TibetExtending 2 ,413 km, the highway links Tibet with various provinces in southwest ChinaXinjiang-Tibet HighwayFrom Yecheng in Xinjiang to Ngari in TibetExtending 1,179 km, it is the highest highway in the worldYunnan-Tibet HighwayForm Xiaguan in Yunnan to Mangkam in TibetThe highway extends 315 km.China-Nepal HighwayRom Lhasa to knowledge Bridge in Zham, Shigaze of Tibet to capital of Nepal of NepalThe highway extends 736km.Railway transportationAlthough covering about one eighth of Chinas land area, Tibet was previously the only province direct region not accessible via railway. Qinghai-Tibet railway is the only rail transport to Tibet. Before the opening of the railway, visitors could only reach Tibet by air or road. This railway measures 1963 kilometres from Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, which is the worlds most elevated and longest plateau railway (Cao Lin 2008). Along the way 965 kilometres of the railway are located over 4,000 metres, over 600 kilometres traverse the ev erlasting frozen tundra. At the highest point, the Danggula Mountain pass is 5,072 metres above sea level. Thus, Qinghai-Tibet Railway is often called as railway on the rooftop of the world. However, although it is more convenient and cost- impressive, it is the only railway to reach Tibet.Figure 3 Railway from and to Tibettibet-railway-map.jpgAir transportationThe air route over Tibet is the most efficient way for communications between Tibet and the rest of the world. The first air route was started in Tibet in 1956, which is from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, to Lhasa (Pan Liu 2006). Till now, air routes between Lhasa and cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xian, and Guangzhou have been established. In addition, the international air route between Lhasa and Kathmandu, Capital of Nepal, has also been open for traffic. However, there are only five civilian airports in Tibet Gonggar aerodrome of Lhasa, Nyingchi Airport, Bangda Airport of Qamdo, Ngari airp ort and Shigatse Airport, among which Ngari airport and Shigatse Airport were first put into use in 2010.Figure 4 Map of Tibet flight routesmap-of-tibet-flight-routes.gifTransportation of cities and townsThe cities and towns in Tibet all have certain roads connecting each other. But there a absorb many transportation vehicles. Its hard to predict which part will be the toughest in a trip.In Lhasa, Shigaze, Zetang and other larger cities, mini-buses, drudges, or tricycles can be chosen.Buses with 35 seats run to all major tourism sites and the price is always 2 yuan each person with in the unban sphere.There are now over 1,200 taxis in Lhasa and its suburbs. In the urban area, a trip by taxi usually costs 10-15 Yuan.In Lhasa, tricycles will cost from 2-5 Yuan for two persons. They are found near the Barkhor Bazaar. In addition, many hotels in Tibet can rent bicycles.Some scenic spots in Lhasa are not connected with buses yet. Across Tibet, many vehicle companies and travel agencies can help tourists rent vehicles for long-distance journeys. The average cost is 2.5-8 Yuan per kilometre and it differs according to the type and function of the vehicle and the condition of the travel route.3.3 DeficienciesSince Tibets uniquenatural geographical and economical backwardness, its poor transport infrastructure cannot meet therequirements ofthe rapidly growingtourists. Transportationrestricts theoverall developmentof tourism in Tibet.Transport infrastructureis seriously follow behind.Firstly, the total length of road is short and the density of transport facilities is low. The density of roads in Tibet is only 3.36 km each 100 square km, which is the utmost province among the country, comparing 17.82% of the average density of national roads (Cao Lin 2008). These five main highways connecting with other provinces in China are fragile and easy to be affected by natural disasters. In fact, among these five highways, only Qinghai-Tibet Highway can be open throughout t he years, others just can be opened seasonally.Furthermore, comparing with Tibets 1.22 million square kilometres of regional area, the number of airport is too few. During tourist season, domestic routes are obviously insufficient. The only international airline is from Kathmandu to Lhasa. Due to the lackof other internationalnon-stop flights, most tourists have to choose Beijing-Chengdu-Lhasa or Shang-Chengdu-Lhasa routes, which greatly increased the length of journey to Tibet and the airfare is considerable high.Lastly, railway line is single. Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the only railway transport in Tibet. Since it was constructed on the average of 4,500- 5,000 metre Tibetan Plateau, the maintenance of it is incredible difficult.The development of transportation in the regional area is uneven.Tibets transport is concentrated in the relatively developed middle area. In contrast,transportation in southern Tibet and north-western Tibetis extremely backward. Most of roads are in low qu ality, even fragile and easy to be influenced by natural disaster. Western Tibet is the most isolated area. Some of areas are still undeveloped. It is pressing need to improve the transport conditions.Low quality of transport servicesThe level of transport services directly related to the tourists evaluation of destination (Su groyne 2009). Tourism transportation services not only include tourism projects, information of destinations and choices of transport, but also include accommodation, catering and other related credential during the process of travel (Duval 2007). However, when travelling to Tibet, there would be some problem about traffic cannot depart on time and some tourism project and exact security information cannot be provided to tourists.StrategyIn order to enable tourism transportation to adapt to the increasing demand of tourists in Tibet, effective scientific strategies should be made to cope with above deficiencies and to assure the transportation system in Tib et would have further improvement.To meet the rapid development of tourism industry, it is necessary to expand the size of transport network to further improve the transport system. In terms of railway transport, fulfil the capacity of railway transport, throw access to and within the Tibet is of importance. It is proposed to construct more railways, like Yunnan-Tibet Railway, Gansu-Tibet Railway and Sichuan-Tibet Railway. The first regional railway, Shigatse- Tibet was proposed to built, which would be complete in 2014.As for road transport, it is suggested to upgrade level of roads, increase management of maintenance of roads to improve disaster-combat capacity. In the national twelfth five-year development plan, regional government decided to made great efforts to develop road transportation in Tibet. In the Fifth Central Discussion Meeting on the Work of Tibet, central government also decided to renovate construction of road network, with Lhasa as the centre, five State roads as the branches, and the district, county, township and border defence roads as the basis. Currently, the only way from Lhasa to other tourist attractions is road transport. However, some private road accessing to attractions is in the poor quality, which reduces the accessibility and influences the tourists flow. Some scenic spots in Tibet are not connected with roads yet. Thus, it is crucial to increase access level of these places.As to air transport, according to the principles of rational distribution, it is suggested to increase the number of airport to hold back all major cities and towns into national air routes network. With the increasing number of tourist, it is necessary to open some routes to Hong Kong, Tokyo or New Delhi and some tourism developed cities.Improve the serves of tourism transportation. According to the situation of Tibet, tourism transport sector should improve the level of roads, choose convenient routes, and provide high quality way of transport. In a ddition, multi-channel and multi-ticket booking service should be provided to minimize transfer time.