Tag Archives: Incredible India

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 …

IATO President Pronab Sarkar says budget did not give any encouragement to the tourism industry. “There was no mention of the tourism industry, and no benefits or plus points were announced. Apart from speaking about five tourism circuits and second phase of the Incredible India campaign, nothing else was mentioned.” Detailing their expectations and the disappointment that followed, Sarkar says, “We were expecting e-visa changes to be applicable, which were announced in December. The Prime Minister is talking about branding India and mentioning tourism amongst the five pillars, but no one has looked into the prospects of this Industry. Thus, the government needs to be sensitised. As association, we tried seeking appointment with him and did write to him on Twitter, but haven’t heard from anyone as yet.”