Tourism ministry to launch campaign aimed at foreign tourists

To build confidence among foreign tourists planning to visit India, the ministry of tourism is working on a campaign to be promoted across television and digital platforms. The campaign will highlight the safety measures, better airports and road networks that connect various tourist spots as international borders open up and inbound tourism resumes. "With better weather conditions and covid vaccine on the horizon, we are expecting a strong bounceback in international tourism to India in 2021," said tourism ministry's additional director general, Rupinder Brar. Brar was speaking at a webinar organized by Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH). Noting that inbound tourism brings foreign exchange and high-value tourists, Brar said the ministry is also looking at offering attractively-priced covid-19 insurance policies to foreign tourists. To be sure, 10.93 million foreign tourists visited India in 2019 registering a 3.5% growth over previous year. The international tourist arrival grew at the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.31% in the last five years. However, the coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc, severely impacting the foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) through tourism in India, which declined by 64% and stood at ₹5,833 crore in March as compared to ₹16,214 crore in March 2019. Overall, FEEs during the period January to March 2020 stood at ₹44,203 crore as compared to ₹52,378 crore over the same period last year. While domestic tourism has shown first signs of recovery, Brar stressed the importance of building tourist confidence as international travel opens up gradually. ".... in all the content that is being developing at this time we will be addressing the apprehension around how does India opens up for international tourists. We need to send out a visual message to tourists abroad about what happens when they land on an Indian airport. This message will be put out across television and digital as travel opens up for the international travellers in the next few weeks," she added. Brar said that there's a huge opportunity in meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE tourism), heritage, wellness and medical tourism attracting the world to India. Taking key measures can be a game changer for the country. Dipak Deva, managing director at destination management firm Travel Corporation India (TCI), said that the inbound business is estimated to start returning from October 2021 with normalcy levels being restored only by 2022. Guests will keep factors such as veracity of virus spread and death toll in mind while picking international holiday destinations. "Fortunately, the covid mortality rate is low in India. I think the government must highlight that the country is well equipped to deal with any medical emergencies that foreign tourists might face in their communication. Guests will also check whether people in the hospitality industry (hotel staff, drivers and guides) have been vaccinated in the destination country," he said. Deva, who also co-chairs the FICCI Tourism Committee, said that he expects the revival of inbound tourism to take its time beginning with international tourists arrivals from nearby countries and later from countries which makes India a long-haul destination. "There will also be an intense competition among international tourism boards to lure tourists to their respective countries. Therefore, we must have the right message targeted at key countries that bring large tourists to India. My estimation is 33% of the business that happened in 2019 will come back in 2021," he added. Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), which represents more than 1,600 operators for inbound tourists, said that the industry needs proactive steps right now from the government. "Government needs to come up with a road map which includes announcing dates for opening of visa, measures for assuring tourists about India being safe to travel and announcing standard operating procedure (SOP) for tourists planning to visit India in 2021. Steps like lifting restriction on visitors to famous monuments such as Taj Mahal is also crucial," said Pronab Sarkar, president, IATO. Easy provision for e-ticketing at these monuments will help tour operators arrange group visits once the travel sector opens up further, he said.