The scope of India's tourism is continuously increasing in the global map. The country has a wide range of attractions for domestic and foreign tourists. During the Corona epidemic, the industry which was most affected in two years, tourism was the most prominent among them. The tourism sector in particular was badly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic. But now once again the tourism industry has started flourishing in India.
According to the latest figures, after the epidemic, the arrival of foreign tourists in India has increased four times. After two years of lethargy, in 2022, about 62 lakh foreign tourists visited India. This is a four-fold increase in the number of tourists visiting India.
'Visit India Year 2023'
This kind of increase in the arrival of foreign tourists is enough to tell that the tourism sector is once again gaining momentum. Union Culture and Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy gave this information in the first meeting of the Tourism Working Group held at the Tent City located in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. This meeting was organized under the G-20 chairmanship of India. The Ministry of Tourism is celebrating this year as 'Visit India Year 2023' focusing on travel to India.
National Digital Tourism Mission
It is the result of the efforts of the central and state governments that the tourism industry has been gradually helped to come back to the pre-pandemic level from the shock of Kovid-19. The central government is constantly trying to ensure that the tourism industry gets the benefit of technology. Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy has informed that 'digitalization' of the tourism sector will be done and for this a plan is being made to run the National Digital Tourism Mission. Its purpose is to digitally connect stakeholders in the tourism eco-system on the lines of the National Health Mission.
Draft of New Tourism Policy 2023
To promote the tourism industry, the central government has prepared a draft of a new tourism policy 2023. This is expected to give a new look to the tourism sector in India. In this draft, to promote investment in the tourism sector, it has been mentioned to give it the status of industry. Also, hotels have been formally included in the infrastructure. Through the policy, a target has been set to increase the contribution of tourism in the Indian economy. Recently, the government had informed that after getting feedback on this draft from the concerned stakeholders and other ministries, it has been revised. This policy will be implemented after getting necessary permission from all the parties.
Will benefit from the presidency of G20
India is assuming the responsibility of the presidency of the world's most powerful economic forum G20 for the next one year from December 1, 2022. Due to this, in 2023, the tourism industry of India is also going to benefit a lot. More than 200 meetings are to be held at 55 places in India till 30 November 2023 during the Chairmanship period. Ministry of Tourism is organizing 4 of these meetings. This is very important in terms of tourism sector.
Global Tourism Investors Conference in April
The country's first 'Global Tourism Investors Summit' is going to be held in New Delhi from 10 to 12 April. The Ministry of Tourism is organizing it. People from all the G20 member countries will come to participate in this. The purpose of this conference is to attract global and domestic investors to invest in India's tourism industry. CII is the industry partner of the event. The ministry is also going to organize a tourism exhibition to provide a platform to the tourism industry and promote buyer-seller interactions and knowledge sharing.
UPI payment facility to foreign nationals
The central bank RBI has also taken such a decision, due to which foreign citizens will now be able to transact money when they come to India. Travelers coming to India from G20 countries will be able to pay through UPI (Unified Payment Interface). This facility will start with passengers from G-20 countries arriving at selected international airports of the country. Later, citizens of all countries visiting India will get the benefit of payment facility through UPI. This step will also benefit the tourism industry of India. G-20 is a forum of developed and developing countries of the world. This includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Now it will be easier for the citizens of these countries to move around in India due to the facility of payment through UPI.
Special care has been taken in the budget
Special care has been taken of the tourism industry in the Union Budget 2023-24. On the occasion of 100 years of independence, tourism has been considered as one of the four transformative opportunities from the point of view of realizing the dream of a developed India. It has been said in the budget that the government will promote tourism in mission mode. For this, emphasis will be on active participation of states and increasing public-private partnership. The Government of India believes that there are huge opportunities for jobs and entrepreneurship for the youth in the tourism industry. An allocation of Rs 2400 crore has been made to the Ministry of Tourism in this budget. Out of this Rs 1742 crore will be spent on tourism infrastructure development and Rs 242 crore will be spent on publicity and branding. Rs 1412 crore has been kept for the Swadesh Darshan scheme. In this budget, it has also been announced to develop 50 destinations as a complete tourism package. This will be a complete package for domestic and foreign tourists. These places will be developed under the Swadesh Darshan scheme. To promote the tourism industry, an app has also been announced in this budget. This app will provide information on aspects like physical connectivity, virtual connectivity, tourist guide, food street and safety of tourists to enhance the experience of tourists.
140 million jobs in tourism by 2030
The Government of India has set a target of earning $56 billion in foreign exchange through the tourism industry by 2030. Along with this, a target has also been set to create about 14 crore jobs in tourism in the next 7 years. To achieve this goal, the central government is especially focusing on cruise tourism, eco-tourism and adventure tourism. The government is now starting a scheme named Swadesh Darshan 2.0, under which sustainable development of tourist destinations will be ensured.
Immense possibilities of tourism in India
There are immense possibilities of tourism in India. From snow-capped mountains to islands spread across the ocean, the tourism sector is filled with diversity. Spread over 32,87,263 sq km, India has a rich cultural and historical heritage. There are 40 UNESCO heritage sites in the country and we Indians celebrate more than a thousand festivals every year. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), in 2019, India was ranked 10th among 185 countries in terms of the contribution of travel and tourism to GDP. The contribution of the travel and tourism sector to India's GDP during 2019 was 5.19 per cent of the total economy. In 2019, India's tourism sector accounted for 79.86 million jobs (direct and indirect employment). The contribution of the tourism sector in the total employment of India is 8.78%. India's tourism market is expected to reach $125 billion by 2027. In 2020, this figure was 75 billion dollars. In the last eight and a half years, India has spent Rs 7,000 crore on building tourism infrastructure. Medical and health tourism have been recognized as important sectors having the potential to accelerate the development of the country. The Ministry of Tourism has also taken several steps to promote India as a medical and wellness tourism destination. For this, the ministry has prepared a national strategy and roadmap.
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