China became the new growth sector for Indian tourism
Wanderlust continues in spite of recession, terror and pandemics. The Indian inbound tourism market has grown in spite of a difficult year. The latest data compiled by the Indian tourism ministry indicates that North America and West Asia constitutes the strongest growth for tourism to India. The number of foreign tourists visiting India increased from 7.99 million in 2007 to 8.27 million in 2008. This augurs well for the inbound tour operators as prices have also been rationalized by suppliers like hotels and airlines and this could mean better value packages for the taking for the international tourist visiting India now.
In April 2008 the Ministry of Tourism officially opened its first Tourist Office in Beijing, marking its first office in China and only its 14th overseas. This followed China’s opening of a China National Tourism Office in New Delhi in August 2007, as part of the 2007 India-China Friendship Year. The initiative marks part of India’s efforts to increase the number of Chinese tourist visiting India. As a close regional neighbour, with an estimated population of 1.3bn, China represents a valuable potential tourist market. However, in 2007 Chinese tourists comprised only 1.4% of total tourist arrivals to India, or 14th in the ranking of arrivals by country.
As part of the drive to increase tourism from China, the Ministry of Tourism is running several programmes, including a familiarisation programme for Chinese travel agents and tour operators, and the introduction of tailor-made tours and websites for Chinese tourists. This initiative is likely to provide a valuable boost for the Indian tourism industry, by strengthening links between the two countries.
Traveldailynews
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