A tourist in Tibetan costume poses for photos on a street in Lhasa, capital city of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, June 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

The policies include free visits to the Potala Palace and other national 3A-level tourist attractions and above in the region, minimum 50 percent average off-season discount for airlines, and a minimum 50 percent discount for three-star hotels and above in the region compared with the peak season for tourism.

LHASA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region launched a series of supportive policies for winter tourism on Tuesday, according to the region's tourism development

The policies include free visits to the Potala Palace and other national 3A-level tourist attractions and above in the region, minimum 50 percent average off-season discount for airlines, and a minimum 50 percent discount for three-star hotels and above in the region compared with the peak season for tourism.

The policies will continue for five months till March 15, 2020, according to the department.

The supportive policies for winter tourism launched since 2018 have promoted the rapid development of Tibet's tourism, the department said.

Tibet has received more than 11.15 million tourists from home and abroad with total tourism revenue of about 12.47 billion yuan (about 1.76 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2019. ■