Beijing, May 1 (PTI): With a view to cash on the booming tourism in remote Himalayan region of Lhasa, China is constructing an international class hotel in the Tibetan capital.

The hotel St. Regis, Lhasa, which is expected to be opened later next year, will be managed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. The Lhasa Yungao International Hotel Company started construction on the 175-room hotel on April 27.

Assistant manager of the Yungao company, Han Jingshan said the St. Regis, Lhasa is being built according to international five-star standards, and would be the first five-star hotel in China's vast western regions including Tibet, Xinjiang and Qinghai.

Room prices are likely to be around USD 400 a night, Xinhua news agency reported Han as saying.

Tibet is experiencing increasing international and domestic interest and dramatic growth in tourism after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway linking the region with the rest of China became operational last July.

The region reported 110,000 visitors to Tibet in the first quarter of 2007, up 15.8 per cent year-on-year, and is expected to receive more than three million tourists this year.

The region will also start building its fourth airport in Ngari. There are now airports in Lhasa, Qamdo, and Nyingch.

Meanwhile, tourism officials in Lhasa say they are expecting 200,000 visitors during the May Day Golden Week when the country has a week-long national holiday.