Notwithstanding the recent tension between India and China over Tibet, the Union tourism ministry is all set to open its first tourist office in the Communist nation on Monday. With the opening of this office in Beijing, the ministry hopes to tap the booming outbound tourism market of China, which could also be utilised to improve people-to-people relations between the two Asian giants.
The number of Chinese tourists who visited India last year is said to be half a million. A senior tourism ministry official said the number of Chinese tourists visiting India is very small at present if overall number of Chinese tourists travelling abroad is taken into account.
According to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) estimates, China will have biggest outbound market by 2020 with 100 million Chinese travelling out every year. Presently, this is limited to 12 million outbound travellers a year.
The Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India are a big attraction for Chinese tourists. The tourism ministry plans to promote Buddhist circuits in a big way. It is estimated that if Buddhist tourism circuits are properly developed in the country, the number of tourists visiting India would multiply.
Source: www.thestatesman.net 05-April-2008
