Tibetan areas that were closed to foreign travelers following last year’s anti-government protests will be re-opened on April 5. Previously, visitors had been allowed into the country in controlled numbers and with some areas still remaining under restriction. China still requires foreigners to obtain special permission to visit Tibet.
Visitor arrivals plummeted to zero last spring in the wake of fatal clashes in March of 2008 between ethnic groups and the Chinese government. As a result of the protests and restrictions, tourism revenues plunged 54 percent in the first nine months of 2008, to $264 million.