India says ‘Namaste World’

Ministry of Tourism has recently launched its India reopening campaign ‘Namaste World’ on social media, which welcomes tourists from around the world, showcasing its varied offerings.

Nisha Verma

Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General (ADG), Tourism, shares how the campaign came into being. “Even though the visas had opened on 15 November 2021, but in terms of reverting to the pre-COVID regime, the visa opened on 15 March 2022. Even regular commercial flights have resumed from 27 March 2022. Also, under the vaccination campaign, over 183 doses have been completed in India. So, this was the right time for us as all three things were happening. We have managed the COVID situation really well during the Omicron phase as the numbers were not very high, considering a very robust vaccination campaign. With all these three reasons put together, it was time for us to welcome back inbound tourists. Hence, the Namaste World campaign was launched because we greet with Namaste in our country,” she explains.

She adds, “Hence, we welcome all our guests back into our country and through Namaste we also want to show them the diversity that exists in India, because they can go to the mountains in the north, or to the Northeast of the country and enjoy the beautiful landscape. They can go to Madhya Pradesh or Karnataka for national parks. They can go to the Kutchh area for salt pans or visit the Statue of Unity. The list is endless. Thus, the idea behind the Namaste campaign is to welcome everybody back and also through that, show the diverse offerings that our country has.”

Brar informs that for promotions and campaigns currently, they are going to remain in the digital space. “It has a very wide outreach at a minimal cost. It creates a very effective campaign and also in terms of user profile, most people these days prefer the digital space for getting information for bookings. Hence, this is a space that will create informational height for Incredible India. There is so much diversity in the country that we will continue to bring different offerings of India as we go along with the opening,” she says.