LHASA - Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region witnessed a strong recovery in tourism in the first half of this year, according to local authorities.

The region recorded 17.58 million trips made by visitors in the first six months this year, up 110.9 percent year-on-year, while its tourism revenue rose by 138.1 percent to 17.95 billion yuan ($2.8 billion), said the regional tourism development department.

Compared with the same period of 2019, the number of tourists was up 31 percent and tourism revenue rose 20 percent.

The opening of the Lhasa-Nyingchi railway, Tibet's first electrified railway, on June 25 has injected new vitality into the development of Tibetan tourism, the department said.

Airports in Tibet handled 3.07 million passengers in the six-month period, up 13 percent from 2019.