XINING -- Tourism is booming in Northwest China's Qinghai province, with more than 16 million tourist arrivals in the first eight months, said the provincial tourism bureau.

The province hosted 16 million domestic tourists and 36,873 from overseas from January to August, official statistics showed.

Tourism revenue totaled 16 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) during the period, up 26.5 percent year on year.

Qinghai organized a number of promotional activities such as snow tours in the first half of this year, which contributed to tourism growth, said a provincial tourism official.

Tourist arrivals in the province are forecast to see a record high during the National Day holiday from Oct 1 to 7.

With an average altitude of more than 3,000 meters above sea level, Qinghai has seen rapid tourism growth, with tourists increasing from less than 4 million a decade ago to 17.5 million last year.

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