At present, in addition to its contribution to the region's GDP and revenues from foreign exchange, Tibet's tourism plays an increasingly significant role in increasing employment and tax revenues, and raising the living standards of both urban and rural residents. Tourism has become a major channel to create job opportunities and increase people's incomes. (4) Industrial Structure and Development Pattern Tibet's industrial structure has been increasingly optimized, as the region's economic aggregate is expanding, with its industries developing at a rapid and coordinated speed. This can be seen in Fig. 8, which shows the proportion of the added value of primary, secondary and tertiary industries in the region's GDP and the ratio between the three industries in the three years of 1959, 1997 and 2008.In 1959, the proportion of Tibet's primary, secondary and tertiary industries in the region's GDP was 73.60 percent, 12.60 percent and 13.80 percent, respectively; the added value of primary industry accounted for over 70 percent of the GDP, indicating that Tibet was then a typical agricultural society. In 1997, the proportion of Tibet's primary, secondary and tertiary industries in the region's GDP was 37.80 percent, 21.90 percent and 40.30 percent, respectively; the added value of tertiary industry made up over 40 percent of the GDP, indicating that tertiary industry had become the region's largest type of industry. In 2008, the proportion of these three types of industries in the region's GDP was 15.30 percent, 29.20 percent and 55.50 percent, respectively; the added value of tertiary industry accounted for over 55 percent of the GDP, indicating that tertiary industry was playing a dominant role. |