LHASA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- From Sunday, to visit the World Heritage site Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, tourists should make an appointment one day in advance.

"Visitors can book tickets through the official website. They can also make reservations at the ticket office with their ID cards," said the palace's administrative office.

The reservation service will start from 8 a.m., and each person can reserve up to four tickets.

July is the peak tourist season in Tibet. Apart from the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa will also adopt the appointment system for visitors to come at specified time as of Sunday.

From July 22, an appointment to visit from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. should be made one day in advance, and the appointment service is available from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., said the administrative committee of the Jokhang Temple.

Statistics from the regional tourism administration show that in the first half of 2019, Tibet received about 13.4 million tourists, an increase of 20.2 percent year on year. Nearly 13.3 million domestic tourists and more than 118,600 international tourists visited Tibet from January to June, up 20 percent and 53.5 percent year on year, respectively.

The purpose of adopting the appointment system is to solve the contradiction between the protection and utilization of cultural relics and to ensure the sustainable utilization of the Potala Palace and other cultural resources, according to the official website of the Potala Palace.