The past year has seen much turbulence not only in the tourism industry of India, but also the industry the world over. The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) had taken several steps to effectively reduce the impact of the global slowdown, Mumbai terror attacks, swine flu scare and other issues on the tourism sector, including a series of aggressive promotional measures.
The overall growth in FTAs during 2008 over 2007 was 5.6%. Though this growth rate was lower as compared to that observed in earlier years, it was much better than the growth rate of about 2% observed for the world as a whole. The negative growth rate of the FTAs observed from November 2008 continued through majority of 2009. However, FTAs for October and November 2009 are almost the same as was seen in these two months in 2008.
The MoT has launched a series of promotional campaigns in the overseas markets for promoting tourism and to increase Foreign Tourist Arrivals in the country including four Road Shows in Middle East countries to promote Wellness and Medical Tourism and 11 Road Shows in other countries in collaboration with the Indian Association of Tour Operators and Adventure Tour Operators for showcasing different tourism products were organised. The India tourism offices in New York, Frankfurt, Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo participated in major travel fairs and exhibitions in South America, CIS, East European countries, East Asia and South East Asia, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Romania, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, S. Korea, etc. A ‘Visit India Year 2009’ scheme in collaboration with all stakeholders including State Governments, airlines, hotels and tour operators for incentivising travel to India was launched. New tourism products like Caravan and Heliport Tourism have been launched recently. Other new initiatives with much potential include cruise tourism and adventure tourism.
This ‘sustainable’ tourism route has been adopted by strengthening the disadvantaged but skilled rural artisan communities through support to capacity building and vernacular infrastructure, while laying emphasis on the role of women. Of the 36 sites marked out for attention, 29 sites have been completed and are being marketed.
Recognising that infrastructure development holds the key to India’s sustained growth in the tourism sector, the MoT has been making efforts to develop quality tourism infrastructure at tourist destinations and circuits. The MoT sanctioned 94 projects for an amount of Rs. 394.85 crores for infrastructure augmentation including rural tourism projects in the year 200910 (up to November 2009).
The Government has decided to introduce visa on arrival on a pilot basis for citizens of Singapore, Finland, New Zealand, Luxembourg and Japan. In order to meet the rising demand for budget hotel accommodation for both domestic and foreign, the Government decided to standardise and ensure good, clean, hygiene, fair and upgraded facilities and practices in large number of guest houses and unregulated accommodation units. The Policy of Guest Houses has been modified accordingly. Guidelines for inbound, domestic, adventure tour operators and travel agencies have also been relaxed.
The MoT is organising Inter-State Regional Conferences in order to give serious thought to tourism related issues and problems of a particular region and to ensure holistic and integrated tourism development in close cooperation and coordination with the States. The government has decided to implement centralised collection of Road Taxes in the Golden Triangle of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur to facilitate seamless flow of tourist vehicles in view of the upcoming Commonwealth Games 2010.
Other initiatives include the extension of the Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme to provide financial incentives to those Professional Conference Organisers who organise an International Conference at an Indian destination. The MDA scheme has also been extended to Medical and Wellness Tourism service providers. The modified MDA scheme also provides incentives for promotion of domestic tourism.
With regard to the Commonwealth Games 2010, the MoT is in collaboration with other stakeholders for bridging the shortage of about 30,000 hotel rooms for the visitors during the Games. The hotels of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) have been designated as Official Hotels for the Games.
Every effort is being made to ensure that the experiences of tourists, particularly during the Commonwealth Games are worth sharing, so that they become encouraged to repeat their visits to India. The MoT is also training 3000 volunteers under “Earn While You Learn” Scheme and coaching more than 3000 taxi/coach and auto rickshaw drivers to be more tourist-friendly. Training to improve service levels is being imparted to the owners and service staff of the Approved Guest Houses in Delhi.
Initiatives have been taken to provide the required skilled manpower in hospitality sector, including skill training in food production and food and beverage sector under the ‘Hunar se Rozgar Tak’ and skill certification of existing service providers. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has also approved the policy of broad basing hospitality education. ITIs, vocational schools, polytechnics, Universities and Colleges in order to meet the growing demand of trained manpower in the hospitality sector. The Government realises that the safety and security of tourists is of paramount importance for the growth of the tourism sector. Guidelines for setting up a Tourist Security Organisation comprising ex-servicemen were formulated and forwarded to all State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. Several States have deployed Tourist Police at important tourist destinations.
‘Incredible India’ film commercials shown globally to promote India Tourism won prestigious international awards including the Grand Prix Award in Vienna in November 2009.

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