Tourists to Tibet can travel first, pay later

Travelers keen on visiting Tibet can now choose to pay after traveling, thanks to the launch of an online tourism service on Thursday.

The Tibet autonomous region launched the tourism campaign Travel First, Pay Second together with Shanghai-based Lvmama, an online travel service provider, according to a news conference in Lhasa on Thursday.

Dan Yang, the general manager of the Tibet Tourism Investment Group, said, "The Tibet tourism industry has undergone steadily rapid growth in the last few years, and we hope such optimized tourism service will accelerate the steps of turning the region into a world tourism destination."

Tibet is the fifth region introducing such services after Shanxi, Henan and Shandong provinces as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Ma Lei, the vice-president of Lvmama Group, said Tibet is enriched with astonishing natural landscapes and cultural resources and the travel model is expected to boost the development of the region's tourism industry.

Shi Yuhui, the deputy head of the region's tourism department, said the upgraded online tourism service will help to promote the region's standardization of the tourism market.

"The travel first and pay second model will speed up the all-around promotion of the region's tourism and the goal of building a world tourism destination."