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Indo-China tourism to develop fast: Indian envoy

     New Delhi: Indian Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao has said that tourism between India and China is all set to develop at an "amazing speed." With the ending of the year 2007 came a new chapter of the communications between the two countries, Rao said at the closing ceremony of the "China-India year of friendship through tourism-2007." Shao Qiwei, head of China's National Tourism Administration, said: "The year 2007 is just a beginning. The Sino-India exchanges mechanism will improve further with the promotion of tourism." Rao further said that cooperation with many Chinese airline companies has helped in the promotion of the tourism interaction between India and China. "Further connections are needed between cities of the two countries," the Xinhua quoted her, as saying. "I hope in the near future, India will become the No.1 tourist destination for the Chinese people, and vise versa," Rao added. Thanks to a series of tourism promotion campaigns last year, over 530,000 tourists travelled between the two countries. In 2007, a total of 70,000 Chinese tourists visited India, a year-on-year 14 percent increase, and 460,000 Indian tourists came to China, up by 48 percent.
-Feb 1,  2008