Tourism Sector Committee to Extend Visa-on-Arrival Facility double Foreign Tourist Arrivals

Inter-ministerial coordination committee for tourism sector Headed by Principal Secretary to the PM Pulok Chatterjee in its meeting on 19 January 2012 decided to extend Visa-on-Arrival facility to Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi and Bangaluru airports to help double the foreign tourist arrivals. Currently, Visa-on-Arrival is extended to 11 countries including Japan, Philippines, Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam and Finland.

The Visa-on-Arrival  facility is now available at four international airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. There were 6.29 million foreign tourists in 2011, out of whom 12761 had availed the scheme.

Upgraded road connectivity to all major tourist circuits, including Gangtok and Leh, eco tourism and reaching out to schools to promote tourism related vocational schools were amongst the decisions taken by the committee.

It was also decided that a sub-committee consisting of Member Secretary, Planning Commission, Culture Secretary, Secretary (Environment and Forests), Secretary (Rural Development) and Secretary(Tourism) will identify the potential of tourism in rural, eco and cultural sectors in the country and submit its report within four weeks.

It was observed that  tourism ought to be seen as development, should be pro-poor and focus on employment creation. Emphasis was on the need to give tourism a major fillip during the 12th Plan so as to more than double the number of foreign tourists arriving in India and further encourage domestic tourism.

A co-ordination committee consisting of Joint Secretaries of MHA, MEA and Tourism Ministry was constituted to resolve day-to-day visa related complaints.

The Ministry of Environment and Forest were asked to finalise its eco-tourism policy at the earliest possible after analysing the feedback it received from different quarters.

The Culture Ministry was asked to adopt a pro-active tourism policy which should promote museums, cultural and heritage sites, besides monuments. There should be close inter-face between Culture and Tourism Ministry. In order to promote vocational courses related to tourism, it was decided that HRD Ministry will accord high priority in including schools under the scheme.

In order to facilitate connectivity, which is crucial for tourism, it was decided that Ministry of Defence (Border Road Organisation) will expedite ongoing work at Gangtok and Leh roads which are tentatively scheduled to be completed by 2014 and 2015 respectively.

About the Committee

Union Government had set up an inter-ministerial coordination committee for tourism sector under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Pulok Chatterji to resolve inter-ministerial and industry issues and promote tourism.
Set up in 2011, the committee has on board the ministries of Home Affairs; Culture; Rural Development; HRD; Road Transport & Highways; Defence; Railways amongst others. the committee will work towards removal of all perceived roadblocks faced by the tourism industry as well as help resolve issues that may fall under the purview of ministries other than that of tourism.

Highlights of the Meeting

•    extend Visa-on-Arrival facility to Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi and Bangaluru airports
•    sub-committee to identify the potential of tourism in rural, eco and cultural sectors in the country
•    co-ordination committee consisting of Joint Secretaries of MHA, MEA and Tourism Ministry constituted to resolve day-to-day visa related complaints
•    Ministry of Environment and Forest asked to finalise its eco-tourism policy
•    Culture Ministry asked to adopt a pro-active tourism policy which should promote museums, cultural and heritage sites
•    Ministry of Defence (Border Road Organisation) will expedite ongoing work at Gangtok and Leh roads