The ancient Potala Palace in Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, attracts thousands of tourists and pilgrims every year, and visitors have to make reservations a few days in advance to for tickets, especially during the peak summer season.

Now Tibet has decided to offer free entrance at some most favored tourist spots during the five-month-long winter tour season, according to the region's tourism development.

It came as a good news for Xue Bin, from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, and many other tourists.

"We came to Tibet at the right time. The Potala Palace and some other scenic sites in the region are free. The only thing we need to do is to show our IDs at the entrance," Xue said.

"It is my first trip to the region, it was a big surprise for us to get discounts in different areas. We also enjoyed discounts during our hotel stay in Nyingchi City," the 61-year-old said. 

Tibet launched on October 15 a series of measures, including free entry into several national tourist attractions of AAA-grade and above, according to the region's tourism development.

Also, visitors get a minimum discount of 50 percent on air tickets, and a minimum discount of 50 percent in Tibet's hotels of three-star and above.

The policies will be effective until March 15. 

Tibet attracts tourists from around the world. However, winter had long been a low season for tourism until the region launched a campaign named "Travel to Tibet" in February 2018.

For the last campaign, the region received 2.46 million domestic and overseas tourists during the winter tourism period, from November 1, 2018, to March 15, 2019. It represents an increase of 84.2 percent year-on-year. Tourists spent nearly 2.62 billion yuan (370 million U.S. dollars) in Tibet, up 41 percent year-on-year, during the period, the department said. 

As a result of the campaign, winter will no longer be a low season for tourism. 

Tian Kuigang, operator of Tibet Western Land Travel Agency, said the region's winter tour campaign contributes greatly to his business.

"I have been operating the travel agency for more than 10 years, and in the past, before the region launched the policy, I had to close all my businesses in the winter," he said. 

"Offering discounts in various fields in the winter is a big attraction for visitors to tour the region in the low season, and it has helped reverse the region's problem of a withered tourism industry in the winter," said Tian.

The autonomous region's government offers subsidies to travel agencies arranging group tours for Tibet vie charter flights, according to Tian. 

The region saw more than 13 million domestic and overseas tourists in the first half of 2019, a year-on-year increase of 20 percent, and its travel revenue hit 14.93 billion yuan, up 19.8 percent year-on-year, the department said.

(Cover: Potala Palace in Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. /VCG Photo)