India eyes on Chinese tourists

By Lin Qi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-07 09:23

Cui Binbin says she did not see much of India on her first and only visit, three years ago. She explains that she was in New Delhi for just three days, on her way to Kathmandu, Nepal.

"I was amazed by the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. But I didn't have much fun with the city sightseeing," she says. "It felt like a regular business trip and I am mulling going there again."

An undecided Cui can hope to find much information in the Indian Ministry of Tourism's ongoing "Incredible India" campaign in China. A number of holiday packages, dedicated travel itineraries and attractive airline and hotel discounts are on offer to entice Chinese tourists.

India was declared a holiday destination for Chinese tourists in 2003, which means Chinese are allowed to organize private travel to India through travel agents. "Tourist arrivals from China to India in 2007 reached 124,000. The figure may have grown 10 percent last year," says Shoeb Samad, director of the India Tourism Office, Beijing.

Yet, Chinese tourists account for a relatively small share of international visitors to India. Statistics from India's Tourism Ministry show that it received 5.08 million foreign tourists in 2007, but China did not figure in the top 10 countries from where they came.

"We have not seen a surge in travel to India after it opened its door to Chinese tourists. Most visits to India via our agencies are for commercial and official purposes. The market for Indian travel is still young," says Chen from China International Travel Services (CITS), who declined to give his full name.

At present, more than 90 regions and countries have been designated holiday destinations for Chinese citizens, the latest additions being the United States and Taiwan. The top five destinations in 2007 were Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam, according to the National Tourism Administration of China.

Chen says the top questions that most travelers to India want answered relate to safety - how safe is it after the Mumbai terror attacks of last November, food - are there Chinese restaurants, hotels - are they clean, and transportation - is it like what you see on TV.

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