Beijing: Buoyed by a 14 per cent increase in the arrivals of Chinese tourists in the country, India has expressed hope that it will soon become the number one tourist destination for the people of the neighbouring giant and vice versa.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the first "China-India Year of Friendship Through Tourism 2007" at Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunan province, Indias Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao said 70,000 Chinese tourists visited India last year, a 14 per cent rise year on year.

And 460,000 Indian tourists came to China during the same period, registering a 48 per cent jump. She said since 2005, India had been having cooperation with many Chinese airliners, which had been conducive to the promotion of tourism interaction between the two countries.

"Further connections are required between cities of the two countries," Rao was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency. "I hope in the near future, India will become the no 1 tourist destination for the Chinese people and vice versa," she said.

"The year 2007 is just a beginning. The Sino-India exchanges mechanism will improve further with the promotion of tourism," Shao Qiwei, head of Chinas National Tourism administration, said.

Source : PTI