Ministry of Tourism ( India ) - Wikipedia Ministry of Tourism ( India ) Ministry of Tourism Emblem of India Agency overview Formed 1967 Jurisdiction India Headquarters Ministry of Tourism Transport Bhawan Sansad Marg New Delhi, 110011 New Delhi Annual budget ₹ 2,150 crore ( US $310 million ) ( 2018 -- 19 est. ) Minister responsible Alphons Kannanthanam, Minister of State ( Independent charge ) Website tourism.gov.in The Ministry of Tourism, a branch of the Government of India, is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules, regulations and laws relating to the development and promotion of tourism in India. The head of the ministry is Minister of Tourism, a Minister of State ( Independent Charge ), held by Alphons Kannanthanam Since September 2017. To promote the GDP of the country indirectly and to have friendly relations with them, The Government of India announced officially a Visa on Arrival status / facility for International Visitors to enter / visit India from 43 countries including United States, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, Vanuatu, Singapore, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Russian Federation, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Japan, Myanmar on 27 November 2014 and some more countries to follow soon. India stole the limelight at the World Tourism Mart 2011 in London by winning two global awards - World 's Leading Destination and World 's Leading Tourist Board, Incredible India. Contents 1 History 2 List of Ministers of Tourism 3 Campaigns 3.1 Incredible India 3.2 Cleanliness Index 4 Institutions 5 See also 6 Notes 7 External links History The potential for tourism in India was first recognized with the setting up of a Tourist Traffic Committee, an ad - hoc body, in 1948, to suggest ways and means to promote tourism in India. Based on its recommendations, a tourist traffic branch was set up the following year, with regional offices in Delhi and Mumbai, and in 1951, in Kolkata and Chennai. A separate department of tourism under the government was first created on 1 March 1958, that was put under the ambit of Ministry of Transport and Communications. It was headed by a Director General in the rank of joint secretary. Simultaneously, Tourism Development Council, an advisory body, was constituted and was chaired by the minister in charge of tourism. After a fall in the number of tourists entering India in 1961 from the preceding year, the government constituted a committee headed by Lakshmi Kant Jha, then secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, under the Ministry of Finance, to find and examine the reasons. The committee attributed it to the Chinese aggression in the backdrop of the Sino - Indian War that year. Subsequently, as per the committee 's recommendations, visa norms were liberlized, and the India Tourism Development Corporation was established in 1966 as a functional agency of the Department of Tourism. Further, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi convened a conference in October that year, the deliberations of which resulted in the creation of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Karan Singh was appointed the first minister. Despite his skills as an orator and scholarly knowledge in the Sanskrit language, Singh failed to take tourism on a growing path during the initial years, owing mostly to failure in getting funds for the promotion and infrastructure of tourism. He subsequently persuaded Air India to get their officers involved in promotion of tourism to India. Region-wise targets for arrivals were given and Air India chiefs were given powers to oversee the working of overseas tourist offices of India ; ' Operation Europe ' for the said region was later extended to other areas. Air India 's failure to take this forward owing to losses in revenue `` collision '' of `` egos of tourist officers '' led to slump in growth of tourism. Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi later took charge of the ministry before quitting in favour of other ministers who, Pran Nath Seth in Successful Tourism wrote, `` felt that the tourism portfolio was a demotion '', as Civil Aviation was separated from the ministry. During this time, the Tourism was tied with Commerce Ministry, and later under V.P. Singh 's ministry, in 1991 with Agriculture, when it was headed by Chaudhary Devi Lal. It was again tied with Civil Aviation that year, headed by Madhavrao Scindia, before the Deve Gowda government in 1996 attached it with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. Tourism was then combined with culture portfolio when it was headed by Jagmohan. The latter was separated in 2002 and an independent ministry for tourism has been active since. List of Ministers of Tourism No Name Portrait Term of Office Political party ( Alliance ) Prime Minister Karan Singh 13 March 1967 9 November 1973 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi Raj Bahadur 9 November 1973 22 December 1976 Kotha Raghuramaiah 23 December 1976 24 March 1977 Purushottam Kaushik 26 March 1977 15 July 1979 Janata Party Morarji Desai 5 Mohammad Shafi Qureshi 30 July 1979 14 January 1980 Janata Party ( Secular ) Charan Singh 6 Janaki Ballabh Patnaik 14 January 1980 8 June 1980 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi 7 Anant Sharma 19 October 1980 2 September 1982 8 Khurshed Alam Khan 2 September 1982 31 December 1984 9 Rajiv Gandhi 31 December 1984 25 September 1985 Rajiv Gandhi 10 H.K.L. Bhagat 25 September 1985 12 May 1986 11 Mufti Mohammad Sayeed 12 May 1986 14 July 1987 12 Mohsina Kidwai 14 February 1988 25 June 1988 13 Arun Nehru 13 December 1989 7 November 1990 Janata Dal ( National Front ) V.P. Singh 14 Chaudhary Devi Lal 21 November 1990 26 June 1991 Samajwadi Janata Party ( National Front ) Chandra Shekhar 15 Madhavrao Scindia 21 June 1991 10 January 1993 Indian National Congress P.V. Narasimha Rao 16 Ghulam Nabi Azad 17 January 1993 15 May 1996 17 V. Dhananjay Kumar 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party ( National Democratic Alliance ) Atal Bihari Vajpayee 18 C.M. Ibrahim 2 June 1996 22 April 1997 Janata Dal ( United Front ) H.D. Deve Gowda 19 Srikant Kumar Jena 22 April 1997 19 March 1998 I.K. Gujral 20 Madan Lal Khurana 19 March 1998 29 January 1999 Bharatiya Janata Party ( National Democratic Alliance ) Atal Bihari Vajpayee 21 Ananth Kumar 30 January 1999 13 October 1999 22 Uma Bharati 13 October 1999 2 February 2000 ( 21 ) Ananth Kumar 2 February 2000 1 September 2001 23 Jagmohan 1 September 2001 22 May 2004 24 Renuka Chowdhury 23 May 2004 28 January 2006 Indian National Congress ( United Progressive Alliance ) Manmohan Singh 25 Ambika Soni 29 January 2006 22 May 2009 26 Selja Kumari 28 May 2009 19 January 2011 27 Subodh Kant Sahay 19 January 2011 28 October 2012 28 Chiranjeevi 28 October 2012 15 May 2014 29 Shripad Naik 26 May 2014 12 November 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party ( National Democratic Alliance ) Narendra Modi 30 Mahesh Sharma 12 November 2015 3 September 2017 31 Alphons Kannanthanam 3 September 2017 Incumbent Campaigns Incredible India Main article : Incredible India The Ministry of Tourism 's joint secretary Amitabh Kant collaborated with Ogilvy & Mather to create the Incredible India marketing initiative, aiming to promote India 's image as a high - end tourist destination. Incredible India 2.0 was launched on September 27, 2017 by President Ram Nath Kovind, on the occasion of World Tourism Day. Cleanliness index Union Tourism Ministry is planning to introduce `` Cleanliness Index '' for all cities in India. This index will declare the best performers which will motivate other cities to work on this aspect of their appeal. The methodology has been already formulated and will be implemented in 6 cities on a pilot basis. Institutions A number of educational institutions related to hospitality are governed by Ministry of Tourism. This include the Institutes of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition ( IHMCTAN ). In 2016, a few of the IHMCTANs ( Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Jaipur ) driven by inputs from Ministry of Tourism, started giving a hotel management student the option to choose only vegetarian cooking. Earlier, it was compulsory for all IHMCTAN students to learn non-vegetarian cooking. This decision to offer a vegetarian option by IHMCTANs could possibly be the first amongst any of the hospitality training institutes of the world. See also India Tourism Development Corporation Public sector undertaking Visa policy of India Notes Jump up ^ http://www.indiabudget.gov.in/ub2018-19/eb/sbe95.pdf Jump up ^ http://www.sarkaritel.com/ministries/ministrydetail.php?min_id=16 Jump up ^ http://ibnlive.in.com/news/incredible-india-wins-world-tourism-awards/200468-3.html ^ Jump up to : Seth, Prem Nath ( 2006 ). Successful Tourism : Volume I : Fundamentals of Tourism. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. pp. 214 -- 217. ISBN 9788120731998. Retrieved 8 March 2018. ^ Jump up to : Seth, Pran Nath ; Bhat, Sushma Seth ( 2003 ). An Introduction To Travel And Tourism. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 64. ISBN 9788120724822. Retrieved 8 March 2018. Jump up ^ `` Incredible India Campaign ''. Retrieved 6 January 2018. Jump up ^ `` President launches Incredible India 2.0 Campaign ; ' Adopt a Heritage ' Project ''. The Hindu : Business Line. 27 Sep 2017. Jump up ^ http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/cleanliness-index-soon-to-rank-cities/article6428178.ece. Retrieved from ' The Hindu ' on 20 September 2014 Jump up ^ http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=IHMs-to-offer-3-yr-course-in-vegetarian-11072016013026. Retrieved 30 August 2016. Missing or empty title = ( help ) Jump up ^ http://www.cityofjaipur.com/news/2016/07/13/vegetarian-cooking-courses-to-be-introduced-in-hotel-management-institutes/. Retrieved 30 August 2016. Missing or empty title = ( help ) External links Official website Tourism in India By state Andhra Pradesh Andaman and Nicobar Islands Assam Bihar Patna Delhi Chhattisgarh Goa Jammu and Kashmir Ladakh Haryana Himachal Pradesh Karnataka Bangalore Mysore Kerala Thiruvanathapuram Kochi Thrissur Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Mumbai Marathwada Aurangabad Mizoram North East India Odisha Kosal Puducherry Punjab Rajasthan Jaipur Telangana Hyderabad Tamil Nadu Chennai Coimbatore Uttar Pradesh Allahabad Uttarakhand West Bengal Kolkata Types Beaches Hill stations Islands Lakes Medical tourism Skiing Tourist trains Waterfalls Wildlife National parks Protected areas World Heritage Sites Organisations India TDC Andhra Pradesh TDC Assam TDC Bihar STDC Delhi TTDC Haryana Tourism Corporation J&K TDC Karnataka TDC Kerala TDC Madhya Pradesh TDC Maharashtra TDC Odisha TDC Rajasthan TDC Tamil Nadu TDC Telangana TDC Uttar Pradesh Tourism West Bengal TDCL See also Incredible India NEITM Visa policy of India Commons Government ministries of India President ( List ) Government of India Prime Minister ( List Office ) Deputy Prime Minister Council of Ministers Current Agriculture and Farmers Welfare AYUSH Chemicals and Fertilizers Civil Aviation Coal Commerce and Industry Communications Consumer Affairs Culture Defence Drinking Water and Sanitation Earth Sciences Electronics and Information Technology Environment, Forest and Climate Change External Affiars Finance Food Processing Industries Health and Family Welfare Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Home Affairs Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Human Resource Development Information and Broadcasting Labour and Employment Law and Justice Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Mines Minority Affairs New and Renewable Energy North East Panchayati Raj Parliamentary Affairs Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Petroleum Power Railways Road Transport and Highways Rural Development Science and Technology Shipping Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Social Justice and Empowerment Statistics and Programme Implementation Steel Textiles Tourism Tribal Affairs Urban Development Water Resources Women and Child Development Defunct Communications and Information Technology Overseas Indian Affairs Surface Transport Ministers Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Civil Aviation Coal Commerce and Industry Defence External Affairs Finance Health and Family Welfare Home Affairs Human Resource Development Information and Broadcasting Labour and Employment Law and Justice Minority Affairs North Eastern Region Parliamentary Affairs Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Railways Science and Technology Tribal Affairs Secretaries Cabinet Defence Finance Foreign Home Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ministry_of_Tourism_(India)&oldid=847878188 '' Categories : Ministry of Tourism ( India ) Government ministries of India Hidden categories : Pages with citations lacking titles Pages with citations having bare URLs Use dmy dates from February 2016 Use Indian English from February 2016 All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English Talk Contents About Wikipedia Русский தமிழ் اردو Edit links This page was last edited on 28 June 2018, at 11 : 52 ( UTC ). 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Question: who is the present union tourism and culture minister of india
Answer: Alphons Kannanthanam