Drawing more tourist to India

Transcription

1 (Government of India) PRESS RELEASE: Drawing more tourist to India India has fascinated people from all over the world with her culture, historical monuments, beaches, places of religious interests, hill resorts, etc. it is one of the most popular destinations in Asia. Bounded by Himalayan ranges in the north and surrounded on the three sides by water (Arabian sea, Bay by Bengal and Indian Ocean), India offers a wide array of places to see and things to do. The enchanting backwaters, hill stations and landscape make India a beautiful country. Historical monuments, forts etc. add to grandeur of the country. They attract tourists from all over the world. The tourists gets an insight into the rich and diverse cultural heritage of India. India received 8.8 million tourist in 2016 as compared to 8.03 million during 2015 which is a growth of around 9.7 %. Out of this 166,688 tourist from Singapore visited India. The revised ranking to 24th place in the UNWTO s World Tourism Barometer (as of March 2017) is a dramatic improvement and reflects more accurately the position of India tourist arrivals. UNWTO is the United Nation s agency managing promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism and its barometer ranks countries in terms of their ITAs - comprising both foreign tourist arrivals as well as non- resident arrivals.

2 Medical Tourism: Ministry of Tourism has released Guidelines for promotion of Medical and Wellness Tourism as Niche Tourism Product. As per the guidelines, Ministry of Tourism offers financial support to accredited Medical and Wellness Tourism Service Providers, Chambers of Commerce and other organisations as Marketing Development Assistance, for Publicity, organising workshop/events/seminars and for organising Wellness and Medical Tourism Promotion shows. The list of accredited hospitals searchable by Specialty, Procedure, Location and Language Capabilities is already available on the website of the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC). The link for the same is provided from Ministry of Tourism website Year wise Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India of tourists coming for medical purpose, during the last three years is given below: Year FTAs 2014 * # * Ministry of Tourism has not done any forecasting of medical tourist arrivals for coming years. * includes all type of medical and medical attendant visa. # includes medical visa and medical attendant visa

3 Free SIM Cards for Tourists: Government of India has launched a unique initiative helps foreign tourists in the area of phone connectivity - distributing pre-loaded SIM card to foreign tourists arriving in India on e-visa. He said this will facilitate them in communicating with their acquaintances immediately after their arrival in India. To avail pre-loaded SIM Card, BSNL will collect e-visa copy and the first page of passport from foreign tourists on arrival at the airport. This facility is only available for tourists arriving in India on e-visa. SIM cards will be pre-loaded with a value of Rs. 50 talk time and 50 MB data and will be activated on immediate basis so as to enable use this facility instantly. This initiative is also aimed at providing connectivity to foreign tourists to enable them to stay in touch with their near and dear ones and also help them to contact with the 24x7 multi lingual toll free helpline of Ministry of Tourism for any assistance and guidance during times of distress / medical emergency, etc.

4 E-Visa: Government of India had launched the e-tourist Visa facility on November 27, With the introduction of e-tv facility in India, the tourism industry of the country is all set to face a transformation. The number of travellers visiting India are expected to increase to a greater extend in coming years. Keeping this shift in mind, the website indiaeta.com is intentionally created to make the visa process simple. With us you can acquire your visa smoothly & conveniently with just a few simple steps. Till now the scheme has been extended to 161 countries at sixteen Indian airports designated for providing e-tourist visa service. Tourist Help Line: The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has taken a major initiative to facilitate visits of foreign tourists visiting India. This relates to availability of tourists information and assistance while travelling in the country, through introduction of 24x7 Toll Free Multi-Lingual Tourist Help Line. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, has launched the 24x7 Toll Free Multi-Lingual Tourist Help Line in 12 International Languages, including Hindi & English. This service is available on the Toll Free number or on a short code 1363 and operational 24x7 (365 days in a year) offering a multi-lingual helpdesk. The language handled by the Tourist Helpline include ten International languages namely, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

5 Incredible India App: Incredible India App is an innovative project of Ministry of Tourism to assist the international and domestic tourist to access information about Ministry of Tourism recognized tourism service providers namely approved Inbound Tour Operator, Travel Agents, Domestic Tour Operator, Adventure Tour Operator, Tourist Tour Operator, classified hotels and approved Regional Level Tourist Guides available in respective cities / Tourist centres. Details of the same will be shared via this application to the tourists on their mobile phones based on their current location. Tourist can also query similar details for any other city he plans to travel to in future. In addition to this the application will provide places of interest.this will help the tourist in seeking services from Government of India recognized service providers and receive quality & reliable services from them.