What Tourism means to India.

The writer Saint Augustine said " The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only few pages of it. " This words conveys the whole idea of travelling. Its the best choice to make one's life more interesting by learning and experiencing the differences. India, as a tourist destination is very fulfilling in this aspect of definition. It have mountains as well as deserts, cold deserts to hot desert, Rouf to kathakali, Panipuri to kappa and millions of lives and billions of stories. Integrating all these aspects, india can be a global hub of tourism in the coming years.

Tourism sector in india is very potential in so many other domains as well. It attracts the forex exchange and boost the prestige infront of international forums. Its one of the largest sector that provides massive employment opportunities also. Presently 12.75% of jobs in India are in tourism sector alone. India have 40 world heritage sites and so many soft powers like art forms and Ayurveda.

 Understanding all these potentials in the post covid era, Govt of india called for a meeting with all the govt stakeholders framed a policy for the upliftment of this sector and published Dharamshaala declaration as a blueprint of indian tourism. The govt has also trying so many appreciable initiatives in this regard. In 2019, the prime minister urged indians to visit atleast 15 Indian destinations if they can afford to understand, explore and to stimulate a sense of nationalism among the indians. Postcovid credit guarantee upto 5 lakh crores allotted to the tourism sector is also a commendable move from the govt to revive the glory of indian tourism. Recently, Tourism ministry along with ministry of external affairs have identified 20 nations were we have lots of foreign visits, to build country specific strategies with respect to tourism. As india hosts G20 summit in 2023, its considered as great opportunity to project our potentials to the global audience. Apart from G20 summit, India hosts around 200 international meetings. These chance has to be fruitfully nurtured in favour of tourism sector.

The estimates tells that there will be 15 million tourist arrivals in the year 2024, that brings 150 billion US dollar to our exchequer. By the year 2030, this figures are expected to rise upto 25 million tourist arrivals and 250 billion US dollars. By 2030, it is also estimated that tourism sector can provide 140 million jobs to indian citizens.  The National tourism policy recently drafted, considers tourism sector as an industry so that lots of Govt schemes will be also applicable in this sector. Other benefits like taxation reliefs are also addressed in the policy frameworks.

When we discuss on Govt initiatives, some existing schemes are worth mentioning. Swadesh darshan scheme launched in 2014 to integrate theme based tourism circuits is very remarkable. As india is having lots of religious faiths and customs, PRASHAD scheme ( National mission on pilgrimage rejuvenation and spiritual heritage augmentation drive) is very helpful for the promotion of believers in and around the world. Ek bharat sresht bharath programe, launched as a part of celebrating 140th birthday of Sardar vallab bhai patel, is very successfull in providing a sense of unity and integrity among the different states of india in the field of tourism. Under the program called Dekho Apna Desh, the govt is organising webinars, quizes, pledge, and discussions to keep people connected with stakeholders to encourage citizens to travel within the country. 'Adopt a village' initiative launched in 2017 is also a welcome move with the coordinated effort of Ministry of tourism, ministry of culture, different state governments, Union territories along with archeological survey of india. 'Destination North East, 2020 is an annual event of ministry of development of North east region. This event highlites various potential like eco tourism, culture, heritage and buisness of north eastern region.

Though there are lots of govt schemes that runs well, India can go miles more in tourism sector. Understanding our soft powers and targeted initiatives with joint support of respective state Govts can attract more national and international tourists. Medical tourism, digital tourism, spiritual tourism etc are having lots of scopes in this regard. If india uses its true potential, spirit, and marketing strategies, it can definitely become the world's favourite destination.