Proposed National Tourism Board of India aspires to make India US$1 trillion tourism economy by 2047
Having realized the contribution of International Tourism Boards, the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Govt. of India is all set to form the National Tourism Board of India (NTBI). The proposed board is currently in the draft stage, awaiting Ministerial & Inter-Ministerial approval, informed Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, MoT, Govt. of India, said at a recently organized PATA webinar.
The NTBI is proposed to be formed under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism. The NTBI will be devised to act as the nodal body for international tourism and is intended to be autonomous, dynamic, and not-for-profit in its functioning, Verma informed.
Envisioning a positive transformation in the tourism domain, Verma mentioned that the “the key reform behind Tourism Board is to make India a US$ 1 trillion tourism economy by 2047”. The Board, formed forming a dedicated organization with a dynamic and professional workforce with operational autonomy, will be functioning on several fronts such as generating tourism demand, establishing the country’s tourism brand by implementing suitable marketing and promotional strategy and boosting close partnerships and engagement with the private sector. He also highlighted the current areas of limitations that hold back the growth of the sector in the post-covid era and need for the fresh intervention. The lacking are in aspects like promotional campaigns post pandemic, adequacy of overseas presence, efficient digital marketing, presence in physical roadshows and promotions, deriving coherent strategic plan, and the need of refreshing current brand positioning.
In the Draft stage, NTBI is framed with strategic objectives such as enhancing the contribution of tourism to Indian economy in terms of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities by increasing visitation, stay and spend; promoting India as a sustainable, responsible and inclusive tourism destination; enhancing India’s market share in international tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings; facilitating the competitiveness of tourism sector and attracting private sector investment; increasing visibility of Indian tourism products and destinations in the overseas markets and position India as a preferred destination.
The strategic objectives of the Board are devised like participation in tourism events and exhibitions, tradeshows and roadshows; providing support and facilitation for international conventions and events; facilitating the delivery of service-oriented, quality-assured tourism experiences and measuring the tourist experience; suggesting ways to enhance to the relevant stakeholders; development of tourism products, packages and services in collaboration with the private sector; developing business intelligence platform providing useful information to stakeholders; digitalization, innovation and capability development of tourism sector; recommending relevant measures and programs that stimulate promotion and development of India’s tourism sector and implement upon approval.
The Board will be responsible to manage the travel trade and industry stakeholders throughout its day-to-day functioning. It is proposed that initially the Board of Directors will be led by Chairman – Secretary, Ministry of Tourism (Ex-officio); Director – Ministry of Culture, Civil Aviation, External Affairs, Commerce represented by officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary (Ex- officio); Director – amongst Industry leaders and professionals from private sector in the field of tourism, hospitality, marketing and advertising, aviation, arts and culture, technology management, meetings and convention expert; Director – Financial Advisor, Ministry of Tourism; followed by Director General, Ministry of Tourism who will be the ex-officio and Managing Director & CEO of the board for initial three years.
The legal status as defined for the proposed Board is that the Ministry of Tourism may have 74% of the shareholding and 26% may be divided amongst the states/UTs. A substantial budget allocation is also proposed for the Board. It is expected that, with all approvals in place, the Board will be duly approved by the commencement of the FY 2023-24.
In terms of funding, Verma mentioned that the funds will be provided by the Ministry of Tourism from its plan schemes. The Board will be allowed 10% as the management fee on approval and the Board will be provided support for staff, operations and establishment till it has managed to create its own corpus and regular stream of revenue. The proposal also denotes that the initial set up cost for the office and establishment will also be provided to the Board.
