Civil aviation policy to address various issues
The Union government’s new civil aviation policy would address the issue of both regional connectivity and also open up the skies in an assertive and satisfying manner, Tourism secretary Vinodh Zutshi said while inaugurating ‘Thought Leadership Meet on MICE Tourism in India' organised by ASSOCHAM.
He said, “The new tourism policy, which is just a matter of time, is going to highlight and emphasize a lot on the possibility of increasing Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events (MICE) into India.” He also pointed out that, the government has set aside an investment of Rs.2,000 crore where they have sanctioned 20 projects for infrastructure under the Swadesh and Prasad schemes.
Regarding the tourism growth rate in India, he said, “We have regained the pace that we had in between 2010-14, touching as much as 7-10 per cent, after a lean period of about a year in 2015, we are back in action.”
He added, “The first two months January and February have recorded as much as 9.6 per cent growth, as far as FTAs (foreign tourist arrivals) are concerned. Even the domestic tourism is booming with 14 per cent continuous growth rate with an aim of achieving even more than 15 per cent augurs well as far as growth of both domestic and foreign tourism is concerned."
He also said, “I think lot of credit goes to the peaceful and conducive environment in terms of law and order.”
Talking about the e-visa for MICE, he said, “We had a meeting with the Ministry of Home Affairs a few days ago, we insisted on MICE e-visa as well, we have been trying very hard for e-visa for MICE and we are hopeful to have this e-visa to see the light of the day, particularly for business tourists to begin with but we are insisting that ultimately the conference visa should also be done, which we have been assured step-by-step.”
The tourism ministry secretary also said that there is a need to develop a MICE tourist spot in coastal India. An investment of Rs.500 crore has been set aside for developing coastal states of India. He also pointed out that the Indian tourism industry has gained a lot of mileage from the prime minister’s foreign visit.
He added that, “The kind of visibility India has achieved in the form of visits of the Prime Minister all over the world, this is something by which we are drawing lot of mileage. The visits are followed by MoUs, bilateral agreements, media coverage and the international conferences being held.”
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