Tourism sector looks up to CW Games

Terror threat, swine flu scare and hike in air fares hit the tourism sector hard in 2009 with number of foreigners visiting the country dropping by over six per cent but the tourism ministry is now looking up to the Commonwealth Games to reverse the trend.

Foreign tourist arrivals continued to dip despite the Visit India 2009 scheme launched by the government offering several concessions to woo tourists.

While 45.41 lakh (4.54 million) foreigners visited the country during January to November, the number was 48.45 lakh (4.84 million) in the same period last year.

In the month of November alone, the number of foreign tourists was 5,18,000 as against 5,32,000 last year.

Attributing the decline to global financial slowdown, terror threat and swine flu scare, tourism minister Kumari Selja, who took the reins from her predecessor Ambika Soni in the mid year, hoped 'some of the measures including visa on arrival scheme and Commonwealth Games would bring good results in the coming year 2010'.

Though the guidelines are yet to be finalised, the introduction of the visa on arrival scheme for five countries -- Singapore, New Zealand, Finland, Luxemburg and Japan - on a pilot basis is expected to increase tourist arrival in the country.

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism sector increased, however, with the country earning Rs 5,523 crore (Rs 55.23 billion)  last month as compared to Rs 4,935 crore (Rs 49.35 billion) in November 2008.

The total forex earning during JanuaryNovember was Rs 47,918 crore (Rs 479.18 billion) compared to Rs 45,647 crore (Rs 456.47 billion) in the same period last year as tourism continued to play an important role as a revenue earner for the country with the US and the UK being the major source market for the industry.

Ahead of the Commonwealth Games, the tourism ministry has made all-out efforts to cater to the requirement of 30,000 additional hotel rooms and a task force has been set up to monitor the accommodation facilities during the mega event.

It is expected that about one lakh visitors would be coming during the Games to be held in October.

"We are upgrading 5,500 housing flats of DDA at Vasant Kunj and Jasola besides making the services of 11,000 rooms available from the licenced guest houses and around 3,000 'bed and breakfast units' for the Games," said Selja.

The ministry has launched a series of training programmes for volunteers, taxi and auto drivers and guest house owners as preparedness for the Games.

Acknowledging the shortage in the hospitality sector, Selja has said that initiatives have been taken to provide the required skilled manpower in the sector.

This includes skill training in food production and food and beverage sector under the hunar se rozgar tak.

The year also saw commercials showing Incredible India campaigns bagging prestigious international awards including a Grand Prix in Vienna.

The Atithi Deva Bhavo campaign featuring Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan was re-launched this year to sensitise people's behaviour towards tourists.

Steps were also initiated for focused development of caravan, adventure and heliport tourism.

The ministry has also decided to provide financial assistance up to Rs 75 lakh (Rs 7.5 million) to states and Union Territories for construction of heliports in hilly and remote areas.

Central financial assistance is being given to state governments for the development and promotion of adventure and caravan tourism.

Launching an aggressive promotional campaign, the ministry held a series of road shows abroad including in Australia, New Zealand and West Asian countries.

As part of the celebration of the 'Year of India in Russia', promotional events featuring Indian culture and cuisine were organised in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

'India Calling', a major tourism event was organised in Los Angeles in collaboration with National Geographic Society to woo US tourists.

The tourism ministry has identified 29 mega destinations so far on the basis of footfalls and future potential.

In order to encourage maintenance and upkeep of parks and tourist sites, the ministry has introduced a new category of award for civic bodies for best maintained city or town.

The ministry also decided to promote rural tourism through 139 sites across the country. The objective of the rural tourism project is to strengthen village livelihoods through community participation.