Tibet's Potala Palace to launch online ticket sales

Visitors to Tibet's landmark Potala Palace will soon be able to purchase tickets online as the palace's administration gears up for the upcoming tourism peak season. Sources with the administration said the Potala Palace has completed development of a smart tourism website as well as an online ticket system, which will be put into trial operation on May 1. The administration will allocate a portion of available tickets to the online system, and visitors can purchase tickets at www.potalapalace.cn one week in advance. The administration will double the ticket fee to 200 yuan from May 1 to cope with the rise in peak season tourists. The Tibet Autonomous Region witnessed booming tourist numbers in 2013 as a record 12.91 million tourists, including 223,000 overseas tourists, visited the region, according to local tourism authorities. Tibetan Buddhism heritage sites, such as the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Zhaxi Lhunbo Monastery, remain the most popular tourist attractions.