Everest attracts 25,000 visitors this year

A growing sense of adventurousness in modern travellers has led to Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, receiving 25,000 visitors in the first six months of 2007.

The number of people coming to see the mountain, known locally as Mount Qomolangma, was confirmed by tourism authorities in Tibet, in the south-western region of China, the Mathaba News Agency reports.

Visitors to the mountain have generated around 3.17 million yuan (£208,000) in tourism revenue, according to the authorities.

Everest is located in the Xigaze prefecture on the China-Nepal border and, according to a spokesperson for the local tourism bureau, has become a popular destination with backpackers and mountaineers.

The regional government of Tibet reportedly has plans to improve a 110km rough road linking Xigaze's Tingri County at the foot of the mountain to the Everest base camp and develop it into a blacktop highway.

Tibet's regional tourism administration recently increased its forecast for tourist arrivals for the whole year from three million to 3.5 million.

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