Kumari Selja chairs National Tourism Advisory Council meeting
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14 Dec 2009 18:2 IST

The National Tourism Advisory Council meeting held here today under the chairpersonship of Tourism and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Kumari Selja. Minister of State, Tourism Shri Sultan Ahmed, Secretary Tourism Shri Sujit Banerjee along with senior ministry officials and representatives of stakeholders of the tourism sector attended the meeting. The meeting discussed among other things initiatives of Ministry of Tourism and stakeholders for Commonwealth Games 2010 and measures to reduce the impact of global slowdown on tourism in India.

Speaking at the meeting, Kumari Selja said, tourism sector faced difficult situation in 2008 and 2009. She said, during the period 2005 to 2007 Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) registered an average annual growth rate of about 15%. In 2008 also the growth rate was reasonably good in the beginning but in November 2008, the growth rate declined to negative figures. She said, this negative trend of growth was specific not only to India as a similar trend was observed in other countries too. 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. Kumari Selja said, 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 Minister said, with a view to effectively reduce the impact of global slowdown, Mumbai terror attacks and Swine flu scare etc. on the Tourism Sector, we have taken a number of initiatives in the recent past to aggressively promote tourism in the country. The Ministry of Tourism has launched a series of promotional campaigns in the overseas markets for promoting tourism and to increase Foreign Tourist Arrivals in the country. 4 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. She said, 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.

The Minister said, in order to meet the rising demand of hotel accommodation for budget tourists both domestic and foreign, we have decided to standardize 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. She said, with a view to encourage quality standards and services and promote tourism in India, we have relaxed the guidelines for inbound, domestic, adventure tour operators and travel agencies.

Kumari Selja said, the government has decided to introduce visa on arrival on a pilot basis for citizens of Singapore, Finland, New Zealand, Luxembourg and Japan. Common ticketing system for the tourists visiting various monuments in Delhi has also been introduced by Archaeological Survey of India.

She said, Ministry of Tourism is organizing 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 centralized 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.

Referring to other initiatives, she said, Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme has been extended to provide financial incentives to those Professional Conference Organizers who organize any International Conference at an Indian destination. 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.

She said, with regard to the Common Wealth Games 2010, Ministry of Tourism is playing an important role 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 have been designated as Official Hotels for the Games.

The Minister said, all out efforts are being made to ensure that the experiences of tourists, particularly during the Common Wealth Games, are worth sharing, so that most of them become repeat visitors to India in future years. To achieve this objective, Ministry of Tourism is providing training to 3000 volunteers under “Earn While You Learn” Scheme; training to more than 3000 taxi/coach and auto rickshaw drivers making them more tourists friendly. Training is being imparted to Owners and Service Staff of the Approved Guest Houses in Delhi so that there is a visible improvement in the quality of services being provided.

Kumari Selja said, initiatives have been taken to provide the required skilled manpower in hospitality sector. This includes skill training in food production and food and beverage sector under the ‘Hunar se Rozgar tak’ and skill certification of existing service providers.

She said, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the policy of broad basing hospitality education. ITIs, vocational schools, polytechnics, Universities and Colleges, would be involved to meet the growing demand of trained manpower in hospitality sector.

Referring to the security and safety of the tourists, the Minister said, this issue is of paramount importance for the growth of Tourism Sector. The inflow of the domestic and foreign tourists could be ensured only when we are able to provide them a safe and secured environment. She said, we look forward not only to addition of new tourists but also the repeat visitors. The matter regarding constitution of Tourist Police Organization in States and Union Territories has been taken up from time to time. Accordingly, guidelines for raising Tourist Security Organization, comprising ex-servicemen for the safety and security of tourists were formulated. These were forwarded to all State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. She said that several States have deployed Tourist Police at important tourist destinations in one form or the other.

Talking about new tourism products, Kumari Selja said, guidelines for promotion of Caravan and Heliport Tourism have been recently issued.

She said, the ‘Incredible India’ film commercials shown globally to promote India Tourism has won prestigious international awards including Grand Prix Award in Vienna in November, 2009.