Sunday, July 3 2005 15:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: India plans to hold tourism road shows in major Chinese cities this year to woo more tourists to Western and Southern parts of the country, official sources said in Beijing.

"We are planning to hold a comprehensive tourism road show in China in by October-end to attract more Chinese tourists to India," Regional Director (East Asia), Indiatourism, G Venkataraman said.

The road shows would be held in cities like Beijing, Dalian, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu and Indiatourism will be cooperating with Air India to woo more Chinese tourists to newer Indian destinations in Southern and Western India, which would also help reduce pressure on the Delhi-Agra- Jaipur triangle's tourism infrastructure.

He noted that there was 53.1 per cent increase in the number of visas issued to Chinese visitors in 2004 and the proposed road shows would generate more awareness among the people about key tourism destinations in India.

Chinese tourists are emerging as one of the main supporters of the tourism industry in Southeast Asia.

According to official Chinese figures, from January to May Chinese citizens made 12.26 million outbound visits, increasing by 9.7 per year.

Revenues from outbound tourism business reached 18.404 billion yuan ($2.23 billion) in 2004, a year-on-year increase of 75.07 per cent.

Indiatourism, which participated in the recently-concluded Beijing International Tourism Expo, received enthusiastic response from Chinese tour operators, Venkataraman said.