URUMQI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Tourism created 32,000 new jobs in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the first half of 2019 as the region moves to harness its booming tourism to improve local livelihood.

An increasing number of farmers and herdsmen are joining the tourism industry to improve their income as tourism "enters a golden era" in Xinjiang, said the region's department of human resources and social security.

The department said with new jobs created in sectors like catering and accommodation, tourist souvenirs and countryside travel, the region's target of creating 40,000 jobs in tourism this year is 80 percent completed.

In 2018, Xinjiang rolled out a three-year plan to boost employment through tourism. The regional government has planned to use tourism to create 10,000 jobs in 2018, 40,000 in 2019 and 50,000 in 2020.

From January to June 2019, nearly 76 million tourists visited Xinjiang, up 46 percent year on year.