ICCI-Yes Bank Knowledge Paper released at Great Indian Travel Bazaar 2017
Jaipur, 24 April: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has recommended to the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, the announcement of National Tourism Policy in the year 2017. It is to be recalled that the draft of the policy had already been prepared in 2015 and had been distributed to the stakeholders for their inputs.
The recommendation has been mooted in the FICCI-YES Bank report – ‘India Inbound Tourism: The Next Growth Trajectory’ released in the inaugural session of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) 2017 on 23 April evening.
The report states that the draft policy reflects the evolving paradigm of the industry and has also suggested several developmental initiatives. FICCI has urged that the draft be finalized as a time-bound mission so that the policy can be released this year itself. The Policy will provide right impetus and direction to the state tourism policies as well. Furthermore, it will also ensure fast pace implementation of several key initiatives and institutional reforms proposed in the Draft Tourism Policy.
The other recommendations in the report relating to policy and regulatory interventions pertain to setting up of a National Tourism Authority, increasing budget allocation to tourism industry, suggesting lower GST slabs for tourism sector and increasing application window for e-visa from 1 month to 6 months. It also urges for promoting hassle free travel by increasing e-visas to more countries.
World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) research forecasts that between 2016 and 2026, the 10 fastest growing destinations for leisure-travel spending will be in India. The shifts suggest that developing and emerging countries are catching up by providing better conditions to develop their Travel and Tourism competitiveness and, therefore, becoming better prepared to attract and welcome the millions of new tourists who will travel for the first time in the coming decade.
The 3 day GITB is the most significant platform and the sole promoter of Inbound Tourism in India. This year there are as many as 275 buyers from across 53 countries who will be interacting with 288 Indian sellers over 10,800 pre-structured B2B meetings. The GITB has been organized by Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). It is supported by leading national and regional associations like Hotel & Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR), Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) and Rajasthan Association of Tour Operators (RATO).