Beijing, Oct 21: India would soon open a tourism office here to tap the huge outbound Chinese tourist market while efforts are on to establish similar offices in Thailand and Malaysia as part of the government's 'Look East' policy. "We want to promote tourism in a big way in China. China is a fast growing market and we would like to attract as many Chinese tourists to India as possible," Minister for Tourism and Culture, Jagmohan, said here.
"In pursuance of this objective, we have taken a decision to open a full-fledged tourist office in Beijing," Jagmohan said on the sidelines of the ongoing 15th general assembly of the World Tourism Organisation.
"Now we are searching for space to set up the China office. As soon as the office is set up, we believe that larger number of Chinese tourists would be able to visit India and tour operators and travel agents can also interact with our officials here," he said. He said by opening tourist offices in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, India hopes to achieve the twin objectives of attracting local tourists from these two nations and region and also from China. "Apart from targeting tourists from those countries and regions, we also believe that Chinese tourists who go to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur would also consider extending their journey right up to India," Jagmohan said. Bureau Report