TravTalk India Online Magazine
Two years after the pandemic brought tourism to a halt in the country, the industry looks well set for recovery. State tourism boards are planning a slew of measures, including media campaigns and other promotional strategies, to revive the confidence of travel fraternity and prepare them to take out maximum advantage of the opportunities.
Janice Alyosius
A research conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed that the travel and tourism sector’s contribution to the Indian economy could surpass the pre-pandemic levels this year with a year-on-year growth of 20.7 per cent. The WTTC’s Economic Impact Report says the sector’s contribution to the nation’s economy could reach almost `15.9 trillion (U.S. $215 billion) in 2022, 1 per cent above 2019 levels. The Union Ministry of Tourism and state governments, optimistic over the recovery, are working towards promoting India with new offerings to the visitors. Campaigns and roadshows are being held in each state with the objective of boosting the confidence of travel fraternity.
Pawan Jain, Joint director, Department of Tourism, Rajasthan, said that the Rajasthan government has allocated a budget of `600 crores for the development of tourist places. Additional `400 crores has been allocated for marketing and promotions. The government, in cooperation with the hotel and tourism association of Rajasthan, plans to organise an event for domestic tour operators from 22 to 24 July in Jaipur, Jain said.
Rajasthan has witnessed a good number of domestic tourists in the summer season. As the commercial flights have resumed, the state anticipates increase in the influx of foreign tourists in coming days. The state also plans to attract investors with sops. Tourism units like hotels, resorts and museums will be paying tariff on industrial rates, which is almost 25 per cent less than the commercial rate, Jain said. The state has come up with some new promotional schemes. For example, under the heritage certification scheme, the government will certify heritage buildings, especially heritage hotels used for wedding and film shootings, by which the owners of heritage buildings can get subsidised bar licences or excise bar licences at less than 50 per cent rate. Furthermore, the state is also focusing on promoting rural tourism, for which the government is planning a rural tourism scheme, which will be launched soon, he added.
Anjit Mukherjee, Deputy Manager, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat, said that the state never took a pause during the pandemic and has been continuously working to promote tourism. He said the government is planning to host roadshows to boost the confidence of travel agents. “Several B2B agent meetings have been conducted not just in the big cities like Delhi, Bombay and Chennai, but also in B towns on the state’s outskirts,” he added.
“These B2B meetings and roadshows are being held with the objective of boosting the confidence and preparing travel fraternity since the market is going to boom very soon and the industry needs agents and other travel partners to be ready with all the knowledge about destinations. The government of Gujarat plans to educate, motivate and prepare the industry once again,” he said.
As a part of marketing and promotional activities, the government of Gujarat has been doing campaigns and outdoor advertisements, besides familiarisation trips. The government is hosting bloggers meet to promote the state and its tourist attractions. In association with India Tourism, Gujarat held its first major bloggers meet in December, in which bloggers from all over the country were invited to various destinations of Gujarat.
Mukherjee said the state government is playing a key role in building up a bridge between travel agents from all over India and the suppliers from Gujarat. “The prime thing the government is focusing on at present is to develop the agent base to facilitate smooth operation. In November-December when the Rann Utsav and other winter products of the state will start, by end of this season Gujarat anticipates to reach pre-pandemic levels in tourism,” he said.
Zeeshan Khan, Assistant Director, Department of Tourism, Kashmir, said that the state government is working on confidence building measures, as the industry dipped in the last two years. “The government hosted roadshows and media campaigns in various states via different platforms to promote and educate consumers about their new offerings. To mark 75 years of Independence, Jammu and Kashmir has identified 75 offbeat destinations, 38 in Kashmir, 37 in Jammu,” he said. “The Union Territories famous for their natural beauty and picturesque locations are favourite destinations for tourists across the world. Jammu is famous for its temples, while Kashmir Valley is known for its lakes and gardens,” he added.
Khan revealed that the government has started adventure activities like paragliding, rafting and hot air balloon to attract tourists. “Due to the rigorous promotions, Jammu and Kashmir had record high tourist footfall and witnessed 2,80,000 visitors in April 2022 itself,” he said.
Khan also highlighted the state’s 24-hour active grievance redressal system, which makes sure that a complaint is resolved within 24 hours, and so the tourists feel satisfied. “After the reopening of borders, Kashmir has observed international tourist arrivals from Bangladesh, Russia, England, US and Thailand. There is a good inflow of international tourists, which makes us confident that through our campaigns and promotional activities, we will have even more international visitors visiting Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Tourism contributes towards 15.45 per cent of Uttarakhand’s GDP. The state has seen a constant growth rate of approximately 12 per cent of tourism arrivals for the last 10 years. Colonel Ashvin Pundir, Additional CEO, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board revealed that the government has initiated multiple development projects to improve the infrastructure around all religious sites, to make it easier and more comfortable for the tourists visiting the state for religious tourism. The department is continuously working to develop and improve facilities at the Char Dhams. Last year, `12,000 crores have been spent for the construction of all-weather road of over 880 kms and improved infrastructure to facilitate tourism is being planned in Yamunotri and Gangotri Dham at a cost of `54.35 crores. Un-der the scheme, a facilitation center and other passenger facilities, entrance gate etc. will be constructed in Yamunotri Dham.
He further revealed that the government is promoting offbeat and newer destinations to evenly distribute tourism benefits all around the state. New adventure locations like Tehri, Nayar Valley, Marchula for the tourist who wants to explore the unexplored are being developed and publicised. Besides this, a new Trekking traction center policy has been developed where the government is giving subsidy to the people to develop homestays in this region where the treks are taking place. In addition, the government is also making trekking traction centers in these areas, there are about 13 destinations in Uttarakhand, from where the treks start and these are the locations where infrastructure development is taking place.
