Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Nirupama Rao, today said the tourism industries in India as well as in the neighbouring island nation were performing below their potential, and urged travel agents to help improve the status quo.
‘’Last year India received 3.3 million tourists and Sri Lanka received 0.57 million. Compare this with the fact that Singapore gets 7 million tourists per year, Thailand 9.6 million and Malaysia 11.5 million, you will agree that we are doing below our potential,” Ms Rao said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 54th Annual Convention of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) here this evening.
Related Travel Information
India today said it was disappointed over denial of visa by Pakistan to Indian tourism officials and operators for attending Lahore Tourism Fair.
"We are disappointed for denial of visa to those who wanted to travel to Lahore to participate in the Tourism Fair there," official sources said here.
They said the Indian delegation wanted to rent a booth there to highlight tourism potential and destinations in India.
Despite this, India remains committed to promote tourism between the two countries and intended to propose tour packages between the two countries.
Source: hindustantimes.com
There is immense potential of developing tourism in Kerala and the State should make full use of it, the Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Parliamentary Affairs, Ms Suryakantha Patil said on Monday.
Inaugurating a seminar "Coalition government - its merit and demerits," organised by the Nehru Peace Foundation, she said that Kerala could follow the example of Singapore, a tiny nation, which had taken tourism development to a high level.
"Kerala can become the richest State in the country, if it taps the tourism potential available to the maximum," she said, adding that spices, coconut and the
At the recent Paris Air Show, Indian companies were among the biggest spenders, spending a total of US$13 billion on 150 new aircrafts at Le Bourget. This dramatic expansion in the aviation industry indicates a spectacular growth in Indian tourism over the past two years, with both inbound and outbound travel galloping ahead of targets. With tourist inflows barely dented in the aftermath of the tsunami, India’s travel industry is targeting five million visitors this year.
This follows record inbound traffic in 2004 when visits soared 25% (to more than three million) from January to November.
Abacus recorded an increase of 18%
Toronto: India has decided to boost the emerging 'village tourism' industry to meet the demand of North American tourists who want to have a first hand experience of the country's spiritual and cultural heritage.
"The government has already identified 56 villages that give glimpses of 'Incredible India'," S.K. Misra, Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism said. He said this while inaugurating the road show 'India as a preferred Tourist destination' organised by the Ministry of Tourism. Top executives of Canadian airlines, tour operators and companies attended the show.
Misra said India ranked fifth among the world's tourism hotspots after New Zealand; Thailand,
The Tourism Ministry will dole out assistance to the tune of Rs 30 crore to private players who invest in projects like tourist trains, cruise terminals, convention centres and golf courses, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Assistance will be released on the basis of project proposals received by the ministry, Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury said in a written reply.
She said Rs 30 crore had been allocated for this scheme.
The Finance Ministry has also come out with a "Viability Gap Funding Scheme" to assist large tourism infrastructure projects like international convention centres through public- private partnership.
Tourists:
