Taking serious note of the recent incidents related to foreign tourists, Union Tourism Minister K.Chiranjeevi has expressed his deep anguish at the reported attempt to assault a British tourist in Agra. Addressing the consultative committee of his Ministry recently, he said that safety and security of tourists is the topmost priority of the Ministry of Tourism (MoT). The Minister informed that he has immediately ordered suspension of the three star rating of the hotel involved in the incident. He said the Ministry of Tourism has also issued a show cause notice to the hotel asking it why its license should not be cancelled.
He also informed that he has spoken to the Union Home Minister SushilKumar Shinde and requested him to put in place a proper system to ensure the safety and security of tourists especially women and children. Moreover, Chiranjeevi has also started contacting personally all the Chief Ministers urging them to institute an adequate safety mechanism for tourists in their respective states.
The Tourism Minister said that his Ministry has set a target to double the receipt of international tourist arrivals by 2016 taking 2011 as base. He said “My effort is to make India as a round the year destination – a destination for 365 days – a destination for all seasons. For this purpose, we are developing various niche products like rural tourism, wellness and medical tourism, eco and adventure tourism, golf and polo tourism, film tourism, MICE tourism, cuisine and shopping tourism and cruise tourism. Our wellness and medical tourism products have been very well received in overseas tourism markets and I am happy to inform you that this sector is growing at the rate of around 20 per cent per annum”.
The Tourism Minister said, while trying to concentrate on the growth of foreign tourist arrivals, we are not going to loose focus on domestic tourism. He said in order to popularise and promote domestic travel, my Ministry has launched a new campaign “Go Beyond” which means go beyond the obvious. This campaign will help the Ministry develop lesser known destinations, the Minister added.
