India Tourism and Tiwari Tours & Travels Sydney were in Martin Place on June 18 to woo travellers to India and its rural areas leading up to the games. Dancers in colourful Indian attire will help to inspire travellers to India at lunch time in Martin Place.
India Growth Trend continues. The Minister of State for Tourism and Culture Ms.Kanti Singh said that the growth of tourists seen in the latest figures indicated five million tourists in 2007 who spent $11.62 billion in India is expected to continue in 2008.
According to the Minister, India has a healthy growth of inbound as well as outbound travel. She said that in 2006, 8.34 million Indian tourists travelled overseas. India is now working towards world-class airport infrastructure to cater to 10 million international and 60 million domestic tourists by 2010.
India is expecting 10,000 sportsmen and women during the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010.
The Minister said, “India has a large variety of tourist attractions. We are trying to develop new tourism products such adventure tourism, medical tourism, rural tourism, cruise tourism, conference and convention, wedding and honeymoon, monsoon, agriculture, spas, golf, eco-tourism, luxury trains, shopping and fairs and festivals,” the minister said.
E.K. Bharat Bhushan, joint secretary in the tourism ministry, said the government was trying to project India as “a 365-day tourism destination”.
He said that according to World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) projections covering 174 countries, that in the next decade, India will be the fastest growing tourism destination with an annual growth rate of 88 percent.
He added that the target was to reach a figure of 10 million foreign tourist arrivals by 2010.
Apart from medical tourism, the tourism ministry is also promoting rural tourism in a major way. “In our rural tourism initiative, 125 rural sites have been identified to showcase rural life, art, culture and heritage, nature and landscape in and around the villages,” the joint secretary said.
As for outbound tourism, he said the sector was growing at an annual rate of around 25 percent with the country’s growing middle class spending more and more on foreign travel.
“Outbound tourism from India is increasing steadily with 8.34 million Indian tourists travelling overseas in the year 2007. The figure is likely to reach 50 million by 2020,” he said.
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