Till not too long ago, the tourism ministry was enthusiastically targetting 10 million foreign tourist arrivals for 2010, hoping for an extraordinary 100% jump from the 2007 level. Even as it was faced with a reality check following the slump due to the global economic slowdown, it did not officially revise its target. The country actually received only 5.8 million foreign tourists last year.
Now, the ministry seems to have swung to the other extreme. Its new ?strategic action plan? aims to attract only 8 million foreign tourists by 2015.
The action plan, which is still to be made public, does not give the reasons for such a drastic downward revision of target. But it does acknowledge that presently, incentives for the tourism sector from the government are ?very limited?. It also bemoans the fact that the decision making power on most of the issues concerning tourism actually lie with other ministries or government departments. Promotion of tourism is not a priority for the other ministries and department, it notes.
?These organisations need to give due consideration to the requirements of tourists in their activities,? the action plan says.
?A more proactive and supporting role of the government in encouraging the sector through tax incentives will positively impact the growth of tourism,? it says.
India attracts less than 1% of global tourists despite witnessing a healthy 12-14% annual growth in the years immediately preceding the economic recession. That growth was much more than the global average of 6-8% but unfortunately the good times did not last for even five years.
The ministry says it will have to make concerted efforts to ensure that tourism is given the status of infrastructure status. The next five years need to be dedicated to creating the building blocks to sustain high rates of tourist inflow. Development of infrastructure, rationalisation of tax structures in different states, aggressive marketing of various unique tourism concepts like rural tourism or medical tourism, and a major investment in human resources are some of the areas that have been identified for special focus.
The action plan also aims at doubling the current domestic tourism figures of 400 million by 2015. Noting that pilgrimage was the main driver of domestic tourism in the country, the action plan aims at carrying out a substantial upgrade of tourism-related facilities at the major religious centres.