China inaugurates first international luxury hotel in Tibet

Beijing, Nov 2 (ANI): Chinese tourism authorities are expecting a boom in the country's tourism sector, following the inauguration of the first luxury hotel in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Monday.

The St. Regis Lhasa Resort, the first international luxury hotel in Lhasa, the regional capital, reportedly covers nearly 32,000 square meters and is a green hotel.

Xinhua quoted Wang Songping, deputy chief of the region's Tourism Administration as saying: "The opening of St. Regis ends Tibet's history of no luxury hotels. Shangri-La Hotel and InterContinental Hotel will be built in Lhasa in 2010. High-end hotels will help boost Tibet's tourism."

Meanwhile, Phil McAveety, chief brand official of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc, which owns the hotel, has said that by utilizing solar energy and geothermal energy, the St. Regis Lhasa Resort can save 93,000 kilograms of diesel energy consumption every year.

The remote southwestern region witnessed a tourism boom in the past few years, especially after the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the first rail link between Tibet and the rest of China, was opened on July 1, 2006, the report said. (ANI)