LHASA -- Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region on Wednesday welcomed members of the first trans-regional tour group since the COVID-19 outbreak.

The 20 tourists in the group are from five provinces and cities -- Tianjin, Hebei, Zhejiang, Shaanxi and Jiangsu.

They arrived at the railway station in Lhasa, the regional capital, at 12:45 pm and will spend three to 11 days in Tibet from July 23.

Tibet announced resumption of trans-regional group tours from July 20, and tourist spots were allowed to host up to 50 percent of their daily capacity, up from the previous 30 percent, said Ji Yue, deputy director of the regional tourism department.

On January 27, Tibet barred tourists from all scenic spots in the region, lifting the restriction in March as the epidemic situation improved across the country.

Tibet experienced the country's best tourism recovery rate in the first half of the year, especially in May and June.