LHASA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region received a record 25.6 million domestic and foreign tourists in 2017, up 10.6 percent compared with the previous year, regional authorities announced Thursday.

The announcement was made during the first session of the 11th People's Congress of Tibet.

Tourism revenue during the year reached 37.9 billion yuan (5.9 billion U.S. dollars), with a year-on year increase of 14.7 percent.

Statistics showed that for the past five years, total tourism revenue in the region topped 130 billion yuan. Tourism has become one of the pillar industries in the region, authorities said.

The region has made efforts to improve infrastructure in recent years, which has helped promote tourism. Tibet now has 79 air routes, and 90,000 kilometers of roads. Up to 99 percent of villages in the region are connected to roads.

The region is expected to host 33 million tourists in 2018, authorities said.