Travel industry wants a ticket to ride (The Economic Times, India)

The bus ride across the India-Pakistan border is giving ideas to those in the Chinese travel trade. Developing auto tourism between India and China is one of them. As the two nations work to settle their border dispute, next on the agenda could be the opening up of road routes for trade and tourism.

Investing in the hospitality sector, especially heritage resorts and three- and four-star hotel properties, and developing travel infrastructure specifically targeted at Chinese tourists visiting India, are among the other investment opportunities that the Chinese travel and tourism industry is looking at in India.

"China has highways and roads over 40,000 km long, and connecting major tourist destinations across the country. Auto-tourism between India and China is just waiting to happen," said Peter Wong, chairman of Hong Kong-based MK Corporation, which has interests in the hotel and travel business in China.

Opening up the road route connecting China with Bangladesh and India, and developing other transit points across the Indo-China border are high on the Chinese business agenda this summer. Many in the Chinese travel industry are optimistic that if India and Pakistan can build on diplomacy through the bus route, so can India and China.

The Chinese government is promoting auto-tourism -- a drive across major tourists destinations in the country, as roads connecting Indian and Chinese cities will give a fillip to tourist flows between the countries.

China, over the past few years, has emerged as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with over 100m visiting the country in '04. Around 30m Chinese travellers went out of the country last year, generating over $25bn. "Indians were the fastest growing segment among inbound tourists in '04, with an increase of 44 percent over the previous year," said Wang Ping, president of the Chamber of Tourism of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.

However, the number of Indians visiting the dragon country was paltry, at around 3 lakh in '04.

Chinese travel and tourism industry executives concede they are in the process of getting familiar with tastes and likings of the Indian tourist. "We still need to develop infrastructure that will specifically support Indian tourists," says Mr Wong. No wonder Indian chefs are a sought-after commodity in the dragon country.

As for the number of Chinese tourists visiting India, it was just 21,000 in '04. Many in the Indian travel trade feel there is a need to develop affordable accommodation and support infrastructure to woo the Chinese tourists. Mr Ping's company sees a business opportunity in this.

"We would like to set up guest houses and heritage properties in India to specifically cater to Chinese tourists," said Mr Ping, who manages several hotel properties along the Silk Route.

The Chinese tourism industry offers several business opportunities for Indians, as it has already attracted around $50bn in foreign investment. "With WTTC predicting demand from travel and tourism in China growing at an annual rate of 10.4 percent over the coming decade, it is a safe place to invest," said Mr Ping.

It may still be some time before one can travel from India in a bus or car to China, but Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit may well be the beginning of the removal of roadblocks.

Source: The Economic Times, India
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News