Tibet receives record number of tourists in 2009 despite travel bans after last year's riots. Tibet received a record 4.75 million tourists in the first nine months of this year, state media reported Wednesday, marking a rebound from ethnic rioting and security clampdowns last year that shut the Himalayan region to travelers.

Tourism revenue reached almost 4 billion yuan ($580 million), the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the deputy director of the regional tourism bureau, Wang Songping. The tourist count includes both foreign and domestic visitors.

Some of that money went to the more than 10,000 Tibetan families who have opened their homes to tourist stays, the report said.

"It's a high point for Tibet's tourism industry," Wang was quoted as saying at a meeting of the Tibetan regional Communist Party.