Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture along with an Indian delegation participated in the World Travel Market (WTM) 2016 in London, United Kingdom, which is one of the largest international travel trade events. India is the official premier partner at WTM 2016, having the theme, “India – The Land of Eternal Heritage”.
The Indian delegation comprises of chief ministers, state tourism ministers, dignitaries from the state governments and union territories, industry partners and officials of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Around 42 partners including state tourism departments, tour operators, hoteliers, resort owners, Air India, IRCTC, ITDC, and other stakeholders are present at the India Stand.
Sharma, in his address, said that the Indian tourism outlook is promising with an upswing in the growth of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India in the recent years. In 2015, India received 8.03 million foreign tourists as compared to 7.68 million in 2014 with a growth rate of 4.5 per cent. In 2015, the tourist arrivals in India from the UK alone were 867,601 with a 3.4 per cent growth over the previous year.
The minister said that India has set a target to achieve one per cent of international tourist arrivals through a multi-pronged approach, including proactive marketing strategies in partnership with the tourism stakeholders. He acknowledged the contribution of tourism towards the economic growth and expressed that the introduction of electronic tourist visa (eTV) has been a significant step in order to boost tourist arrivals to the country. The facility of eTV is at present available for nationals of 150 countries including visa on arrival for Japan.
