Sunday, September 4 2005 15:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: With India's emergence as a major global tourist destination, the country is keen to open a Tourism Office in China to tap the booming outbound tourism market of the Communist nation.

Visiting Minister of State for Tourism Renuka Chowdhury said that her ministry is "Talking to the Finance Ministry and others because the time is right for us to have offices in major world cities. It is not enough to have some local people in such offices as they should have the drive to bring people to India."

India Tourism Offices in major world cities are essential for promoting and marketing the country as a tourist destination in the overseas markets through a range of promotional activities, she said.

"Having our own offices would result in greater visibility of the Indian tourism products in overseas markets and an increase in foreign tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings in the country," Chowdhury told sources.

"We have been looking at China as a big market. We cannot overlook a powerful neighbour like China. Between the two countries, we have one-third of the globe's population," she said.

During the first half of the year, outbound tourists from China touched 14.6 million.

With next year being marked as 2,500 years of Buddha as well as the India-China Friendship Year, she said it was an ideal opportunity for her to discuss ways to promote tourism between the two ancient civilisations.

Chowdhury, who met here on Friday with her counterpart, Director of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Shao Qiwei, discussed the issue of opening the India Tourism Office in China.

"We discussed how to facilitate each other and how we can carry the programmes forward," she said.

Chowdhury said the CNTA had discussed with the previous Government in India about opening an office in India and that she would look into the matter and see what are the 'stumbling blocks' in the Chinese proposal.

The CNTA has approved the holding of the first-ever India tourism road shows in major Chinese cities in October and the Ministry is actively preparing for it, she said.

The road show will be a good opportunity for the Indian tourism industry to showcase their products to their Chinese counterparts as well as the general public, she said.

Chowdhury noted that India's tourism industry has witnessed a 26 per cent growth this year till June. Further, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has named India as the fifth most favoured destination.

The World Tourism Organisation also considers India as one of the favoured investment destination, the Minister said.

"Time is now for us to look at all areas," she said, adding that her ministry would be looking at the experiences of other countries, including China, in attracting tourists in large numbers and building infrastructure for tourism.