The tourism industry in India has shown encouraging signs of revival after the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the latest figures received by the government from the Bureau of Immigration, India registered 6.19 million Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during 2022 as compared to 1.52 million during the same period of 2021. There were 10.93 million FTAs in India during the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
The Ministry of Tourism, under schemes like Swadesh Darshan, PRASHAD and Assistance to Central Agencies, is providing Central financial assistance to state governments/Union territories/Central agencies for the development of tourism-related infrastructure and facilities in the country to provide an enriching tourism experience to visitors in a planned and phased manner, according to Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy.
The ministry, he said, has set up a 24×7 Multi-Lingual Tourist Info-Helpline on the toll-free number 1800111363 or on a short code 1363 in 12 Languages including 10 international languages (German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic), Hindi and English for domestic and foreign tourists to provide support service in term of information relating to travel in India and to offer appropriate guidance to tourists in distress while travelling in India.
He said the Ministry of Tourism has taken several initiatives to give a boost to the tourism sector in the country and to increase foreign tourist arrivals. Some of the major initiatives are
–launched Dekho Apna Desh initiative with the objective of creating awareness among the citizens about the rich heritage and culture of the country and encouraging citizens to travel within the country;
–has been conducting Programmes under the ‘Capacity Building for Service Providers (CBSP) Scheme to train and up-grade manpower to provide better service standards;
–launched Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification Programme, a digital initiative that aims at creating an online learning platform with the objective of creating a pool of well-trained professional tourist facilitators across the country to support tourists;
–launched 24×7 toll-free Multilingual Tourist Helpline;
–has been providing the facility of e-Visa for 5 sub-categories i.e. e-Tourist visa, e-Business visa, e-Medical visa, e-Medical Attendant visa and e-Conference visa for nationals of 166 countries;
–E-Visa has been further liberalised and the visa fee substantially reduced;
— New mountain peaks have been opened for Mountaineering/Trekking to give a boost to adventure tourism in the country;
— lowered of GST on hotels rooms with tariffs of Rs 1,001 to Rs 7,500/night to 12 per cent; those above Rs 7,501 to 18 per cent to increase India’s competitiveness as a tourism destination;
–59 tourism routes have been awarded to the identified airlines by the Ministry of Civil Aviation under the RCS UDAN Scheme, for which the Ministry of Tourism extends financial support in the form of VGF (Viability Gap Funding). 51 of these routes have been operationalized to date;
–In order to boost visitor arrival, the Ministry of Tourism has declared “Incredible India! Visit India Year 2023”;
–G20 meetings are being held at 55 destinations throughout the country. The infrastructure in these cities is being augmented and upgraded for the G20 meetings; and
–Tourism offerings are being highlighted in the run-up to these meetings. Excursion of Delegates is also organised to nearby tourist attractions. Efforts are being made to make G20 delegates visiting these destinations tourism ambassadors. Important tourism sites and facilities are being upgraded to international standards.