Lhasa, Oct 24 : bout 36.89 million domestic and foreign tourists visited Tibet in the first three quarters of this year, up 15.2 per cent year on year, according to local authorities. The region's tourism revenue from January to September rose 26.6 per cent from a year earlier to 42.4 billion yuan ($6.6 billion), Xinhua news agency quoted the regional tourism department as saying in a statement. The growth in the number of tourists and tourism revenue was partly due to effective epidemic control and rapidly developing infrastructure in Tibet. A raft of preferential policies has been implemented to promote Tibet's tourism growth, including lower hotel prices and free tickets at many tourist attractions, between mid-October and the end of the year. The incentives are expected to help Tibet meet the goals of receiving 42 million tourists and generating annual tourism revenue of 44 billion yuan in 2021. /IANS