India plans to promote tourism to attract more travelers to the country during an event held in Southwest China's Yunnan province from Friday to Sunday.
India is participating as guest of honor at the China International Travel Mart in Kunming, capital of Yunnan. The CITM is one of the largest travel and tourism events in the Asia-Pacific.
India will promote tourism through outdoor promotional activities at Nanya Dicheng, a prominent shopping square in centre of Kunming. These will include yoga demonstrations in association with the Yunnan Minzu University Yoga College, musical concert from Nagaland, Cheriyal mask painting artisans from Telangana, Bidri work from Karnataka, Indian Street Food Festival, Indian arts and crafts exhibition-cum-sale.
As part of the drive to enable travel to India, the Electronic Travel Authorization (E-Visa) for Chinese travelling to India was announced during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China in May 2015 and has already been implemented since July. The initiative has received an enthusiastic response in the last four months, according to the Indian embassy to China.
India's participation at the invitation of China is one of the major initiatives under the Visit India Year in China being observed this year.
The Indian delegation comprises officials of the Ministry of Tourism, five state governments and industry partners.
The India Pavilion at the CITM provides a platform for the Indian tourism industry stakeholders, to present their products and services to the travel trade worldwide. Co-exhibitors comprising state tourism departments, tour operators, airlines and other stakeholders will be present at the India Pavilion, to showcase their diverse tourism products and services. The participating states from India are Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, and Haryana.
A major highlight of India's participation is the India-China Tourism Forum. India and China will co-host the China International Travel Forum and India-China Tourism Forum on Friday at CITM. India will be organizing B2B sessions, Know India Seminars, demonstrations of Indian arts and crafts at CITM.
With a view to promote connectivity, stakeholders are also looking at how more airline routes can be added. Shandong Airlines has launched a new connection on 11th November directly linking Kunming with New Delhi four times a week. The flight also extends to Qingdao and Jinan too within China.
Tourism outlook
The Indian tourism outlook is certainly promising with an upswing in the growth of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India in the recent years. In 2014, India received 7.68 million FTAs as compared to 6.97 million in 2013 with a growth rate of 10.2 percent.
In 2014, the tourist arrivals in India from mainland China was over 180,000 with a 3.6 percent growth over the previous year (2013).
The target set by Indian government is to achieve 1 percent of international tourist arrivals out of total global tourist arrivals through a multi-pronged approach, including proactive marketing strategies in partnership with the tourism stakeholders.
The Indian government recognizes the contribution of tourism towards economic growth and stands committed to make it easy for the travelers to visit India. The recent initiative taken by the India government to introduce Electronic TouristVisa (eTV) is a step in this direction and has further boosted tourist arrivals.
The facility of eTV is at present available for nationals of 113 countries, which is proposed to be expanded to a total of 150 countries. China is among the beneficiaries of this policy Modi had announced it during his visit in May 2015.
India has a rich and diverse natural, cultural, and religious heritage which provides a unique opportunity for tourism. The architecture of India's temples, palaces, forts, the grandeur of its sculptures, and the beauty of its paintings, all offer an unparalleled experience. India has 32 World Heritage Sites which include historic monuments and natural wonders.
To improve infrastructural facilities in the country, the Indian Ministry of Tourism has launched new schemes for the integrated development of theme based circuits in the country. As the birthplace of Buddhism, India has a treasure trove of heritage Buddhist sites that will be of great interest and curiosity for Chinese travelers.
