Union Ministry of Tourism released Draft National Tourism Policy 2015

The Union Ministry of Tourism on 1 May 2015 released the Draft National Tourism Policy 2015 after re-visiting National Tourism Policy 2002. The policy is aimed at boosting tourism sector in the country.

Its objective is to increase India’s share in world tourist arrivals from the present 0.68% to 1% by 2020 and increase to 2% by 2025 and position tourism as a priority on the National political and economic agenda.

Key Features of the Draft National Tourism Policy 2015
• It enshrines the vision of developing and positioning India as a MUST EXPERIENCE and MUST RE-VISIT destination encompassing the aspects of Swachhta (cleanliness), Suraksha (safety) and Swagat (welcome).
• It seeks to evolve a framework for tourism development, which is Government-led, private sector driven and community welfare oriented.
• Its focus is on Employment Generation and Community Participation in the development of tourism industry in a sustainable manner.
• The emphasis of the policy will be on skill development across all segments including setting up of a dedicated university for tourism and hospitality education and deployment of technology in promotion of tourism.
• National Tourism Advisory Board (NTAB) will be set up under chairmanship of Union Tourism Minister and having tourism ministers of States / Union Territories (UTs) and domain experts as its members to monitor the implementation of the policy.
• National Tourism Authority will be established with representation from the trade and industry and interconnected departments or agencies to execute the policy.
• Core infrastructure (airways, railways, roadways, waterways, etc.) as well as Tourism Infrastructure (Swadesh Darshan, PRASAD, Buddhist Circuit, etc) will be developed.
• Focus on domestic tourism as a major driver of tourism growth and on development and promotion of the North East Region and the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
• To attract foreign tourists the government will play a more pro-active and decisive role at multilateral tourism fora such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) on themes that link the countries such as the Buddhist Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Heritage Circuit, etc.

The new tourism policy will be finalised after receiving inputs and suggestions from the general public. The suggestions have been invited by the ministry till 10 May 2015.

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