Tourism in India has come a very long way. One of the most impressive reasons for the tourism growth in the nation is because of the rich cultures of Indian origin. Yearly, from all over the world, people make trips to India to visit amazing historical places and to learn about the diverse cultures of its diverse heritage. With the current trends, the country welcomes above 10 million foreign tourists yearly. To keep the country an attraction site for people from all over the world, the government is trying hard to make provisions and some other things that would influence the country.
1. e-visa
In 2014, the Indian government established a new policy that would allow tourists and those visiting the country for business purposes to obtain a ‘visa on arrival’. This option was to boost inbound tourism and the e-visa payment option was made available across 16 renowned international airports. It is expected that intending visitors would log on to an online portal where they would acquire an ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) before their arrival into the country. This is to relieve visitors of the stress of having to get to a visa center or Indian consulate before they can process their visa. In April 2015, this program was renamed as the e-Tourist Visa, in place of the ‘visa on arrival’. The program expects that application for this opportunity is done on the government’s secure website some 30 to 40 days before their arrival date into the country. Once the e-Tourist Visa is held with other travel documents, then there is nothing to worry about. Upon the implementation of this program, India witnessed a 1987% growth in the number of visitors!
2. Trade fair and Exhibition Promotions
Under the Ministry of Tourism, the Indian government embarks on various promotional campaigns that include different segments of the travel industry, nationwide. Indian international tourism offices participate in trade fairs and exhibitions that help to generate market sales all over the world. One of the mostly done promotions is Road Shows. Roadshows were organised across different countries to showcase Indian facilities, carry out one-on-one business meetings and exhibit travel trades in different countries. Some of the publicity were extensively done outdoors, for example, the Indiatourism, Toronto that was done during the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010. Furthermore, publicity was also done when governmental bodies spearhead or are the major sponsors and hosts of world programs and events.
3. Tax relief
In 2018, the Indian government and the financial administration thought it fit to cut down the tax of tourism facilities all over the country. The aim was that this would mean that the tourist attraction centres would lower their tourists’ fees and that would encourage more visitors to come into the country. This step does not just boost incoming guests; it is also to see that more employment opportunities are created as well as to foster economic growth.
4. Cheaper flights
The government has provided support for domestic tourists who also love to visit different places across the country. The government approached about 5 airlines, in 2017, and gave them incentives to cut down the flight prices across different locations up to about 100 of them. This has seen the hospitality industry taking advantage; more visitors are gotten in tourism cities and there is the need to make rooms to accommodate the increasing numbers of visitors. The proof of the government’s influence, in this case, is the fact that hotel occupancy levels have climaxed to a point that has never been witnessed since 2008.
5. Impact Tourism
More recently, the Indian government started making attempts at impact tourism to help attract more tourists. Impact tourism is an approach that calls government to provide social amenities and infrastructures in certain communities that are worth tourists’ visitations. The Indian government has been making these strides to see that basic amenities are developed in various tourism communities. Although, still in progress, this approach of influence is estimated to call for about 15 million tourists desiring to make trips to Indian villages, alone.
So, there we are. These are five government’s approach to influence tourism and guests’ trips to India. Although some of these approaches are slow-paced, the proofs, hitherto, are encouraging.
