China keen to woo Indians to boost tourism

Kunming (China): China’s tourism hub Yunnan province is trying to woo Indians who may not be too aware about its scenic beauty, natural wonders and a pleasant climate.

Yunnan hosted the 65th convention of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) at its capital Kunming last week, which was attended by over 500 delegates, to showcase tourism opportunity which this south-western Chinese provi-nce offers to the Indian tourists.

Yunnan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, director ge-neral, He Ligui said that the province has launc-hed a series of progra-mmes since 1978 to develop tourism and upgraded its infrastructure to attract tourists. He said that the tourism department is keen to attract tourists from India which is close to the province and whose inflow has been limited till now.

There is a direct four hours flight from Delhi to  Kunming and two hour direct flight from Kolkata.

“The capital city Kunming has spring like weather through out the year as in summer it is not too hot and in winters not too cold. It is rich in tourists spots,” he said.

Mr  Ligui  said that some 573 million tourists visited Yunnan in 2017 which resulted in a revenue of 692 billion  Yuan.  “In first 10 months of this year we saw 601 million tourists and overall this year we expect some 700 million tourists,” said Mr Ligui.  Most of the foreign tourists who visit Yunnan are from Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia among others, he added.

TAAI president Sunil Kumar said that less than 10,000 Indian tourists visited the province annually.  He said that the Yunn-an has huge potential to attract tourists from India. “There are a number of exotic spots in Yunnan and people who go to foreign locations for weddings can come here,” said Mr Kumar.

He said that presence of Indians can also boost tourists flow towards India. “More people in Yunnan have been  to Kathmandu than to India. We need to establish a culture connect to inspire Chinese to go to India,” added Mr Kumar.

The province has 856 star-rated hotels, 958 travel agents and 65 tourist bus companies. It is home to 26 ethnic Chinese groups.