Tourism between China and India will "develop at an amazing
speed", said Nirupama Rao, India's ambassador to China, on
Wednesday at the closing ceremony of the "China-India year of
friendship through tourism-2007".
Rao said that with the ending of the year 2007 came a new
chapter of the communications between the two peoples.
She said that since 2005, India had conducted cooperation with
many Chinese airline companies, which was conducive to the
promotion of the two countries tourism interaction.
"Further connections are needed between cities of the two
countries," she added.
China and India reported more than 530,000 tourists between the
two countries, thanks to a series of tourism promotion campaigns
last year.
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.
"The year 2007 is just a beginning. The Sino-India exchanges
mechanism will improve further with the promotion of tourism," said
Shao Qiwei, head of China's National Tourism Administration.
"I hope in the near future, India will become the No.1 tourist
destination for the Chinese people, and vise versa," Rao said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2008)
