India and China - the two rapidly increasing economies of the world, have teamed up to boost their tourism in both sides. As envisaged in the Joint Declaration issued during the visit of Mr. Hu Jintao, President of China, India and China have launched ‘India -China Year of Friendship Through Tourism’ in 2007′ to promote tourism between the two countries.
The Tourism & Culture Minister Smt. Ambika Soni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the People ’s Republic of China Mr. Le Zhoaxing and Minister of External Affairs Shri Pranab Mukherjee attended the inaugural ceremony of the tourism year here today.

Indian Tourism and Culture Smt. Ambika Soni said that friendship between the two countries is extremely pertinent for world peace and stability. It is in this larger context that we see the significance of bilateral cooperation through tourism.

Both countries will emerge as the leading players in Asia in tourism and set new trends. Rich cultural heritage, varied festivals, traditional values and great works of art and music naturally attract our people to each other, she added.

India and China are in a process to start around 50 direct flights in a week in the coming years connecting different cities. Apart from this, India and China will open the heir tourist offices this year.

Industry veterans believe China as an important market for its inbound tourism. According to the official stats, in 2005, India received 46, 805 tourists from China while 6,29,947 Indian tourists traveled to China during the same year.

Buddhism continues to be huge draw. Besides the above, yoga, and Bollywood are other major attractions. India Tourism has already taken initiatives to showcase India’s Buddhist attractions in China by launching advertising campaign termed ‘Walk with Buddha’.