Initiatives Implemented to Enhance Tourism Promotion

The Voice of Chandigarh News:

The Ministry of Tourism has taken several steps/measures under various schemes/initiatives over the years for development and promotion of tourism sector in the country as per details given below:

Development of tourism related infrastructure is done through projects sanctioned under the ‘Swadesh Darshan’, ‘National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD)’ and ‘Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development’ Schemes.
The Ministry of Tourism has revamped its Swadesh Darshan Scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) with the objective to develop sustainable and responsible destinations following a tourist & destination centric approach.
Financial assistance has been provided to the State Governments/UTs for organizing fairs/festivals & tourism related events under Domestic Promotion & Publicity including Hospitality (DPPH) Scheme.
Dekho Apna Desh initiative launched with the objective to encourage citizens to travel within the country.
Thematic tourism like wellness tourism, culinary tourism, rural, eco-tourism etc., amongst other niche subjects are vigorously promoted so as to expand the scope of tourism into other sectors as well.
Providing facility of e-Visa for 7 sub-categories i.e. e-Tourist Visa, e-Business Visa, e-Medical Visa, e-Medical Attendant Visa, e-Conference Visa, e-Ayush Visa and e-Ayush Attendant Visa for the nationals of 167 countries.
E-Visa has been further liberalized and the visa fee has been substantially reduced.
Lowering of GST on hotels rooms with tariffs of ₹1,001 to ₹7,500/night to 12%; those above ₹7,501 to 18% to increase India’s competitiveness as a tourism destination.
Ministry of Tourism has collaborated with Ministry of Civil Aviation under their RCS-UDAN Scheme. As on date, 53 tourism routes have been operationalized to improve air connectivity to tourist destinations.
Ministry of Tourism is running Pan-India Incredible India Tourist Facilitator (IITF) Certification Program, a digital initiative that aims at creating an Online learning platform with the objective of creating a pool of well trained and professional Tourist Facilitators/Guides across the country and generating employment opportunities at local level.
Conducting Programmes under the ‘Capacity Building for Service Providers’ (CBSP) Scheme to train and up-grade manpower to provide better service standards.
The National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry (NIDHI) is a technology driven system, which is to facilitate digitalization and promote ease of doing business for hospitality & tourism sector. This initiative has been upgraded as NIDHI+ to have more inclusivity, that is, of not only Accommodation Units, but also Travel Agents, Tour Operators, Tourist Transport Operators, Food & Beverage Units, Online Travel Aggregators, Convention Centres and Tourist Facilitators.