"This New Year has been really busy. We've had tons of room reservations. And it was great when the guests gathered to celebrate the festival together," said Wang Zhicheng, boss of a chain inn in Lhasa, capital city of southwest China's Tibet.

 

Wang operates a mid-sized family inn in the old town of Lhasa. Before the Spring Festival, he initially planned to go home for a vacation, but the brisk business has made him decide to return his ticket and spend the holidays with his guests.

 

This is the third year that Wang has spent the Spring Festival in Lhasa. And the 2018 Tibetan New Year coincided with the Spring Festival and fell on the same day on Feb.16 this year.

 

On New Year's Eve, Wang welcome his guests who come from all over China and are of different ethnic groups including Han, Mongolian, Tibetan, and the Tujia by making dumplings and New Year's Eve dinner with them.

 

Though the holidays are winding down, Wang's inn is still incredibly busy.

 

"There's a peak and off-peak tourism season in Tibet every year. Normally, November through April is the off-season, and there's little income. Last year we made 10 to 20 thousand yuan (1,584 US dollars to 3,169 US dollars) a month during this time and were barely profitable," he said.

 

The booming business right now has made Wang a lot less stressed about his inn.

 

He said that the inn was full from Feb 1st through 21st this year, with full occupancy every day, and he earned an income of almost 40 thousand yuan (6,338 US dollars). If the inn stayed this busy, they could make enough in the off-season to pay rent for the entire year.

 

From February 1st through April 30th, all 115 A-level scenic spots throughout Tibet offer free admission to visitors, and there're also many discounts and special offers for hotels, airfares and transportation.

 

It is reported that from Feb 15th through 21st, Tibet has received a total of 458.5 thousand tourists from home and abroad and earned a total of 299.84 million yuan (47.35 million US dollars) in tourism income, achieving a year-on-year  increase of 48.2% and 15.6% respectively.