Tag Archives: IITF

The government of Goa has set an aim to have 1,000 certified tourist guides in the state within the next two years after Goa tourism department adopted the ‘Incredible India Tourist Facilitator (IITF) (basic) certification programme of Ministry of Tourism. The plan is to enhance the travel experience of tourists in Goa through guided tours, and hence the state government has planned to train Goan youth and provide tourist guide certification.

Indiatourism Hyderabad, in association with RBVRR Women’s College, Hyderabad, recently organised a webinar on Incredible India Tourist Facilitator (IITF) certification course. Students from two other colleges in Mumbai also joined in. A section of the webinar session focused on the behavioural techniques, grooming, etiquette and common knowledge about the culture of international tourists.

Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi inaugurated the Ministry of Tourism’s ‘Incredible India’ stand at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The Incredible India stand located at Hall No. 18 (Stand No.25) aims to nurture the tourism potential of less frequented destinations which are located closer to the popular destinations for attracting domestic visitors. Inaugurating the stand, Zutshi said, “The stand has been designed with an idea of promoting “lesser Known destinations”. Domestic tourism continues to be an important contributor to the tourism sector providing much needed resilience. There has been a continuous increase in domestic tourist visits, with the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of domestic tourist visits to all States/UTs from 1991 to 2015 being 13.63 per cent. In 2015, it grew by 11.63 per cent to reach 1431.97 million visits. And there is an encouraging sign for the Inbound Tourism too. Inbound travel to India has increased.  Foreign Tourist arrivals in India during the period January- September, 2016 were 6.2 million with a growth of 10.5% as compared to the Foreign Tourist Arrival of 5.6 million with a growth of 4.8% in January-September, 2015 over January- September, 2014. This positive development is expected to continue during remaining period of this year. The Ministry of Tourism is participating in the IITF after a long gap. The attraction of the stand are two ‘Selfie Points’ with the Taj Mahal and the Valley of Flowers as background.