��������������������������Year 2007 has been marked as the ‘India-China Year of Friendship through Tourism’ which was lunched on 14.2.2007 in New Delhi to promote tourism between the two countries. On this date the two also officially released a joint logo for�the�tourism year, made up of Chinese landmark the Great Wall and India’s Taj Mahal as well as the two national flags.

Since then both have had on their agenda number of activities such as :

1. A sixteen Member Chinese Media / Tour Operators group visited India on fam tour in March, 2007 under the �Hospitality Scheme� of Ministry of Tourism.�
2. China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) sponsored delegation comprising of Tour Operators from Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai visited India for tourism promotion.
3. CNTA participated in South Asia Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) Exhibition which was held in April, 2007 in New Delhi
4. Ministry of Tourism organized Road Shows in Beijing and Shanghai in April 2007 to showcase India�s tourist attractions in Chinese market

And both governments are immensely encouraging their citizens to visit each other’s country as part of the move to enhance economic, strategic and cultural ties.

The increase in the number of tourists from China to India and vice versa justifies these moves.

Tourist Arrivals from China in India:

�������������������������� 2005����� 2006

������������������������� 44,897����� 62,330

Indian tourist traveling to China:

������������������������ 2005������� 2006�

����������������������� 356,460���� 405,091

On the invitation of Indian Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni, last Sunday a high-powered 32-member official delegation Led by Shao Qiwei, chairman of the� CNTA has arrived in India for a week-long visit.

CNTA and Indian Tourism and Culture Ministry jointly hosted the inauguration of the China National Tourist Office in New Delhi on Monday.

(Chinese tourist office is affiliated to CNTA with a responsibility to promote China as a tourist destination in the growing Indian outbound travel market)

Mr. Shao Qiwei, Chairman of the CNTA said “the opening of Tourist Office in India will further promote bilateral relations and Sino-India friendship”.

A series of events are being held in Delhi and Mumbai and among them were the celebrations on Monday night (20th August), named as China Tourism Night, in the Delhi. The newspapers have been describing the reaction of the Indian audience in the Capital as they enjoyed the Chinese acrobats and dancers perform.

“Their bodies seemed to be made of rubber, sans any bones, as they twisted and turned with ease and grace. Dressed in short red dresses, for the five Chinese acrobatic dancers, making a perfect 180 degree by twisting their bodies was no big deal - setting the stage on fire and leaving the audience gasping. Poetry, songs, a dramatic plot and background music were incorporated to make for a comprehensive production and bring alive the romance of a Chinese dance drama”

As a build up to the growing economic and political ties between the two countries, China has set its eyes to attract a million tourists from India in the near future. The present two-way trade between the two countries is around US $ 23 billion and it is expected to reach US $ 40 billion by 2010. However, tourism between the two countries is not maintaining the same pace as the growth in trade volume. Thus there is a great potential to develop tourism ties further. Also stems from the fact that last year, about 400,000 Indians visited China as compared to mere 60,000 Chinese visiting India and that�s huge difference.

For those in China who intend to fill the gap� Incredible India��is there for you. The site is also in Chinese :

And those who want to see how a 100 year old Taj Mahal looked like: This is your place�

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 at 11:59 am and is filed under India, China, Government, Travel, Economy, Trade, Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.