China plans to double the number of Indian tourists each year to about 1 million by the end of 2010 and is taking a series of initiatives to meet the target.
At least five Chinese airlines as well as the Chinese Travel Service would launch special packages for China-bound Indians this summer as part of the initiatives, a China Tourism release said in New Delhi on Monday.
"There is need to develop tourism as a resourceful industry for both the countries. We aim to bring around one million Indians to China, of the total seven million Indians visiting foreign nations," Chinese
Ambassador to India Sun Yuxi had said recently.
The year 2007 has been declared as the 'China India Tourism Friendship Year' and several Chinese provinces, including Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, have organised promotional tours in India to tap the $390 million Indian tourism market, growing annually at 12 per cent, the release said.
The Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission, Jiangsu Provincial Tourism Bureau and Zhejiang Provincial Tourism Bureau had jointly organised promotional fairs to showcase tourism as well as investment opportunities in these cities and provinces.
