The opening scene of the Tibet Forum on Tourism and Culture held in Lhasa Hotel, Sept. 26. [Photo/People’s Daily]

The Tibet Forum on Tourism and Culture was held in Lhasa Hotel, Lhasa, capital city of SW China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Sept. 26, People’s Daily reported.

400 attendees including foreign guests, officials from national ministries and commissions, related provinces and cities, specialists and scholars as well as representatives of enterprises took part in the meeting, discussing the issue of building Tibet into a cultural preservation base and a world tourist destination.

Losang Jamcan, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Parmanand Jha, Vice President of Nepal, Cai Wu, Minister of Culture and Du Jiang, deputy director of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) delivered speeches.

Tibet received 12.91 million domestic and overseas tourists last year. The influx of tourists brought Tibet 16.5 billion yuan (2.7 billion U.S. dollars), or more than one-fifth of the local economy, according to Losang Jamcan.

Parmanand Jha said Nepal and China’s Tibet have always been important trade partner and the friendly tie keeps deepening. He believes that the Tibet Expo plays an important role in enlarging co-operations in all areas between Tibet and Nepal.

Cai Wu said in his speech that it is best to combine tourism with culture in order to develop both.

Du Jiang said that Tibet’s tourism industry is in an important period of strategic opportunities and should be developed with great efforts.

The forum, an important part of the First China Tibet Tourism and Culture International Exposition, lasts till Sept. 27.

 Losang Jamcan, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, delivers a speech.[Photo/People's Daily]

Parmanand Jha, Vice President of Nepal, delivers a speech.[Photo/People's Daily]

 Cai Wu, Minister of Culture, delivers aspeech.[Photo/People's Daily]

Guests from Nepal listen to the speeches and take notes. [Photo/People's Daily]