TravTalk India Online Magazine
In a span of just 20 days, Paryatan Parv or The Great Indian Tourism Festival envisaged a greater sense of national pride amongst the masses. Through this initiative, the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with key ministries, celebrated all that makes up the country’s allure to the global market.
NIKHIL ANAND
In line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, undertook the biggest nationwide initiative from October 5-25, 2017, termed ‘Paryatan Parv’, to foster the principle of ‘Tourism for All’ whilst celebrating India, in all its colours, cultures and magnanimity. Marked with grandeur and celebratory activities across the country, Paryatan Parv has made great inroads into ensuring a swifter, steeper rise of the country’s tourism sector. Inaugurated at Humayun’s Tomb on October 5 by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture and Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, the Parv culminated with a three-day-long grand finale at New Delhi from October 23-25, which included performances by different state troops and craft and food fairs from different regions across India.
The three chief components of the Parv were ‘Dekho Apna Desh’, ‘Tourism for All’ and ‘Tourism and Governance’, all of which equally propagated a holistic and robust industry with greater contribution to the GDP of India. Looking back at the first-of-its-kind initiative, K.J. Alphons, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Tourism, Government of India, said, “We had over 1100 events spread across the country that saw tremendous participation from schools, colleges, institutions and every citizen of the country across all states and union territories. Our aim was to showcase and celebrate India – its culture, traditions, music, dance and culture, and to cultivate selfdiscovery and pride amongst the people towards our great country.”
Another key component of the Parv was the inauguration of the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ campaign wherein the private sector will be handed the charge of taking care of civic amenities in and around our heritage monuments. Music shows and performances on weekends near monuments was another new element added by this initiative, which the ministry plans to take to the next level by conducting such shows on weekdays as well in times to come.
Alphons further added, “We are proud to have successfully executed such an initiative in a short time and to have achieved overwhelming turnouts at all events under the Paryatan Parv banner. We hope to continue these celebrations every year and endeavour to have more such festivals throughout the country.” In wake of the growing realisation and chorus for tourism to become the key driver of the Indian economy in the near future, this initiative by the Ministry of Tourism ensured that the spotlight was given to the country’s myriad offerings as a destination, not just to the domestic traveller but also to the global traveller.
Cherishing India in all its glory and grandeur
The main goal of this initiative was to encourage Indians to see India, and to propagate the same we conducted campaigns, events, showcased the various sites on social media and gave a traveller’s perspective of the country. In addition to the cultural and traditional events, we also conducted sensitisation programmes to drive skill development, governance, innovation and to give a fillip to tourism into India including that in J&K and the North East. With the help of our 18 key sister ministries, including Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Ministry of DONER, etc., we managed to turn India into a land of celebrations.
Suman Billa Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
