World Tourism Day is celebrated
on 27 September to foster awareness among the national and international
community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and
economic value. The theme of this year’s World Tourism day is Tourism for All: Promoting Universal
Accessibility with Thailand as the host nation.
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| World Tourism Day 2016 |
Tourism is an engine for growth
of a nation. As per Government of India website, on every Rs. 1 million spent
on tourism, employment for 78 citizens is generated. With the same amount of
investment, Manufacturing sector generates 45 jobs and agriculture generates 18
jobs. India ranks 42nd in
Global FTA with 0.68% share of Global FTA, though India ranks 8th in
natural resources and 24th in cultural resources globally.
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| Taj Mahal- the Jewel of muslim art in India Source: wikipedia |
It can be
understood that safety, security, hygiene, sanitation, last mile connectivity,
rigid visa regime could have been the factors behind the dismal share in global
FTA. Since Narendra Modi led NDA government came to power in May 2014, we have
witnessed various high voltage campaigns and schemes across various sectors of
the economy such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Make in India, Digital India,
Startup India, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana etc. In the tourism sector,
E-Tourist visa, Hunar se Zaika, Smart city, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan etc have the
potential to positively affect the Indian economy in direct and indirect ways.
Through this blog, we shall bring to your notice whether such tourism sectors
schemes are doing as well as they had promised. This is important as there has
always existed in the gap between policy announcement and its execution. For
example, Govt of India had targeted 1 billion FTA by end of 12th
Five Year plan which needed an increase in annual growth rate from 8% to 12%
from 2012 onwards. However, such ambitious targets were not achieved. In this
post, we shall talk about the impact of e-tourist visa on the tourism sector.
Impact of E-Tourist visa scheme:
E-tourist visa scheme was started
on 27th November 2014 and met with great success of 1200% increase
in FTA through this scheme. It offers convenience to the incoming tourists with
flexibility to plan their trips to India.
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| e-Tourist Visa scheme launched in 2014 |
Since its inception almost 7.5
lakh E-tourist visas have been issued and 4.4 lakh tourists arrived on E-visa.
The year 2015 witnessed a growth of 4.5% FTA and a growth of 9% in Foreign
Exchange Earnings (in terms of Rupees and not dollars).
Here is a comparison of the
number of Foreign Tourist Arrival (FTA) in India for the years 2014 and 2015.
FTA
in 2014
|
FTA
in 2015
|
%age
change in FTA 2014-15
|
7.5 million
|
8 million
|
6%
|
On the whole, we can see that
there has not been a great gap in the FTA before and after the scheme was
launched. This is partly because there are only 16 airports where this facility
can be availed. Though this scheme is now available to 150 countries. There is
no option of renewing the visa or extending it due to which foreign tourists
who are here for a prolonged treatment are not able to stay for a long time.
Nonetheless this has been a good
initiative and can be extended to more airports and major ports in the years to
come. It has shown promise and is a bright spot in the growth story of tourism
in India. It is bound to have a spread effect on the entire tourism sector including Bed and Breakfast accommodations which foster cultural exchange between Bed and Breakfast host and guest.
Kindly share your views in the comment box about the scheme and how
it can be made more lucrative for India’s tourism sector.
In the next part, I shall discuss
the impact of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on the tourism sector in India.
