Incredible India revamped website to go live on Dec 25: WTM 2017

The India pavilion at the World Travel Market 2017, the leading global event for the travel industry, was abuzz with activities for the trade and consumers alike. Addressing a press conference, Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India, launched the all-new Incredible India website which will be going live from December 25.  At the three-day exhibition underway at the ExCeL-London from Nov 6-8, Incredible India showcased a lively celebration of spiritual tourism. The India stand laid special emphasis on the development and promotion of tourism for the North East States with an objective of showcasing the largely untapped tourism potential of the region.
The Secretary highlighted the new initiatives for promoting tourism in India. “India Tourism has been going at a fast pace. We have jumped 25 positions as per World Tourism Forum, our ranking has improved from 65 to 40. In terms of international tourist growth in our country, last year it was 9.7 per cent as against the international trend of 3.5 per cent. This year so far it has been very encouraging and it has been at a high of 15.6 per cent. In terms of foreign receipts our growth has been commendable. The international growth has been 2 per cent, ours has been about 8.3 per cent (2016). The growth has been there but still there’s a long way to go.”

Verma informed that recently India celebrated tourism fortnight with a focus on encouraging tourism. The MOT started campaigns called ‘Tourism for All’ and ‘Dekho Apna Desh’, focused on domestic tourists as well as NRIs, encouraging them to come to India not only to visit their relatives but also witness the diverse culture of the country.

She pointed out, “Incredible India 2.0 campaign will be market and product specific, we are making films on niche products like cruise tourism, adventure tourism. This campaign will also focus heavily on social media campaigning besides print and electronic media. We are hopeful that through this new Incredible India campaign we will be able to encourage people to revisit india, stay longer and experience the various products we have on offer.”

The key initiative of introduction of e-visa, offered to 162 countries, is now being offered for medical tourism and MICE tourism, Verma said. A growing trend in tourists coming to India on e-visa has been witnessed and MOT is working on offering better facilities to tourists travelling on e-visa.

Verma states that making India a year-round destination is also on their agenda. “Earlier we used to have seasons for foreign tourist arrivals, from October to March, and rest summer months were lean period. By focusing on adventure tourism, some of our destinations near the Himalayas, like Uttarakhand, Sikkim, we are encouraging people to come to India even in the so-called lean period,” she added.