India will preside over G20 from December and tourism is being boosted to be the driving force to take the country towards the targeted five trillion economy.
G Krishna Reddy, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of North East Region (DoNER), Government of India, said: “This is the right time for India, as domestic tourism is quickly aiding in the post-pandemic recovery. G20 presidncy is an opportunity to make tourism to lead investments into other sectors as well. Every Indian embassy abroad has been instructed to have a dedicated Tourism Officer.”
India recently, in its 75th year of independence, became the world’s fifth biggest economy, surpassing that of the United Kingdom, its once coloniser. India’s Tourism is targeted to grow annually by 14 percent for the next 7 years.
Arvind Singh, Secretary, India Tourism, said: “G20 opportunity is big with 215 events planned at 55 destinations across India between January and September. Tourism is poised to take the lead as the fastest growing sector providing highest number of jobs. We shall use this to position India as a preferred destination for travellers from worldwide.”
Amitabh Kant, India’s designated G20 Sherpa, said: “12000 delegates from G20 nations will be travelling to India.We shall send back every delegate as our tourism ambassador. Focus upon tourism will lead India to a 5 trillion dollar economy in 6 to 7 year’s time. Branding India has been an incredible story but tourism potential remains hugely untapped. Every Indian state must become a champion of tourism and present culture and heritage in a modern, contemporary style that India has been adopting since a few years.”
Amitabh Kant was responsible for branding both Kerala as ‘God’s Own Country’ and ‘Incredible India’ for India’s Tourism.
Minister Reddy said: “Our ancestors have created and passed on a huge legacy of unique and grand monuments. Our responsibility is to maintain those, present in an attractive way and market them to let the world know about those. It won’t be possible with just the Government working on it. We will soon announce an International Tourism Investor Summit to attract interested investors from across the world to take part in India’s growth. We shall create district level Youth Tourism Clubs to actively engage the youth.”
India has 7000 categorised monuments under the Archaeological Society of India (ASI) in 600 districts across the country. Some of these date back to 1000s of years and it still remains a mystery as to how ancient human beings could achieve such proficiency in architecture.
Anand Mahindra, successful Industrialist and Owner, of Mahindra Holidays, said: “India is a travellers’ dream. Its rich historical heritage chronicled through ages and the culture of treating a guest as god forms a perfect combination. G20 presidency opens up a new horizon for India to present itself as an experiential travel destination where a tourist goes back as a mentally and spiritually elevated person. Facilitating micro entrepreneurs will make it sustanable too.”
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Spiritual Guru and Founder of Isha Foundation, said:” People have always turned towards Bharat (India) to seek spirituality and wellness. Bharat is a country of believers. This is the time to present our spirituality with logic. Through our foundation, we’re trying to bring about transparency in spiritualism. Basic cleanliness, women safety and training every person that comes in contact with a visitor can make India a major tourist destination.”
India Tourism Ministry has invested INR 70000 million for the development of tourism infrastructure throughout the country under various infrastructure development schemes in the last five years.
This week’s National Tourism Conference of Tourism Ministers aimed to build a common vision for India in 2047, its 100th year of Independence while focussing on making India an irresistible tourist destination.
