Lok Sabha Question No. 4731 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-23
Subject: Sensitising of Staff to Deal with Foreign Tourists
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Parvesh Sahib Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4731 ANSWERED ON 23.03.2020

## SENSITISING OF STAFF TO DEAL WITH FOREIGN TOURISTS

4731. SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH VERMA:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of tourists that visited India during the last three years and the current year;
- (b) whether tourism in India has been affected by the Coronavirus;
- (c) whether the Ministry has sensitized the staff of tourist spots especially  in  Agra  and  Rajasthan  about  dealing  with  foreign tourists; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)

(a) & (b): Details  of  Foreign  Tourist  Arrivals  (FTA)  during  2017  to 2019 are given below:

|   Sr. no. | Period             |   FTA(in Millions) |
|-----------|--------------------|--------------------|
|         1 | 2017               |              10.04 |
|         2 | 2018               |              10.56 |
|         3 | 2019 (Provisional) |              10.89 |

Provisional  data  of  Foreign  Tourist  Arrivals  (FTA)  during  last two months and those during like period of previous year are given below:

|     | January 2019   | February 2019   | January 2020   | February 2020   |
|-----|----------------|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|
| FTA | 11,03,380      | 10,87,694       | 11,18,150      | 10,15,632       |

However,  Ministry  of  tourism,  Government  of  India  has  not undertaken any specific study on impact of corona virus on tourism in India. Ministry  of  Tourism,  Government  of  India  has  taken various  initiatives  to  sensitize  about  the  measures  required  to  be taken  as  well  as  to  facilitate  tourists  in  the  country  including  in

(c) & (d): Agra and Rajasthan which is attached at Annexure.

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## ANNEXURE

STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (c)  &  (d)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4731 ANSWERED ON 23.03.2020 REGARDING SENSITISING OF STAFF TO DEAL WITH FOREIGN TOURISTS.

Ministry  of  Tourism  has  taken  the  following  initiatives  to  generate awareness  about  the  measures  required  to  be  taken  as  well  as  to facilitate tourists in the country:

## A: Dissemination of Information and GOI guidelines:

- (i) All  Travel  related  advisories  and  guidelines  issued  by  the Ministry  of  Health  &  Welfare  from  time  to  time  have  been circulated amongst all Travel and Hospitality related Associations.
- (ii) The links to the guidelines have also been made available on the  MOT  website  and  social  handles.  Tweets  of  Ministry  of Health & Family Welfare are being re-tweeted.
- (iii) All Associations and their members have been advised to be vigilant  about  possible  suspect  cases  and  bring  cases  of persons  showing  symptoms  to  the  notice  of  the  health authorities  on  the  Ministry  of  Health  Helpline  number  01123978046and Helpline e-mail ID: ncov2019@gmail.com.
- (iv) Travel  Advisory  along  with  Self  Reporting  Form  as  received from  the  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare  have  been circulated  to  the  Pr.  Secretary  /  Secretary  (Tourism)  of  all States and UTs.
- (v) A  letter  was  issued  to  Chief  Secretaries  of  all  States  /  UTs requesting  that  in  case  of  tourists  with  no  exposure  to  the virus, necessary instructions may  be issued to district collectors / concerned local officials,  not to stop their entry and  to  allow  them  to  check  in  to  hotels  and  if  required medical  testing  of  the  tourists  may  be  undertaken  as  per prescribed procedures.
- (vi) Specific guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare  on  prevention  of  transmission  and  disinfection  of hotels/ lodging facilities where suspect/confirmed Coronavirus  (COVID-19)  cases  have  been  housed  have  been

forwarded to Hotel Associations for circulation amongst their

- members.
- (vii) A letter has been issued to States / UTs  and Travel Associations advising that movement of tourist groups within the country may be avoided so as to minimize the chances of spread of coronavirus.
- (viii) A whatsapp group of senior Central and State Govt. officials has been created by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for regular updating on the subject and issues involved. Secretary (Tourism) and DG (Tourism) are part of this group.

## B: Providing Assistance

## Ministry of Tourism Helpline

- (ix) The  Ministry  of  Tourism  has  in  operation  a  24x7  Info-Help Line on toll free number 1800111363 or on a short code 1363 in 12 Languages including 10 international languages (German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic), Hindi & English.

The  Helpline  has  been  receiving  queries  related  to  Corona virus. A large number of queries have been regarding advisories issued, if any, for travel to other countries such as Saudi  Arabia,  Kuwait,  Thailand,  etc.  and  travel  within  the country.  These  have  been  responded  to  on  the  basis  of advisories / guidelines issued by Ministry of Health.

## The following actions have been taken:

-  A team in the Help Centre identified and designated specifically for dealing with Corono virus queries
- 
- FAQs have been prepared for responding to queries received
-  In case of queries not covered under the FAQs, the matter is being referred  to  a  specific  team  identified  in  the  Ministry  of  Tourism, who  would  address  the  matter  with  approval  of  the  competent authority.
- (x) A  WhatsApp  group  has  been  created  amongst  the  senior officials  of  MOT  to  coordinate  amongst  themselves  and
- redress  issues  brought  to  notice  from  tour  operators,  State governments and other tourism related stakeholders.
- (xi) A  number  of  cases  have  been  referred  to  the  Ministry  of Tourism  by  Tour  Operators,  relating  to  tourist  groups  from countries including Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands who have  arrived  in  India  before  the  travel  restrictions  were imposed and have faced issues:
- Hotels were not willing to allow foreign tourist groups to check  in,  even  though  they  had  no  symptoms,  and  in many cases they were insisting on medical certificates
-  before allowing the tourists to check in.
-  In  other  cases,  the  foreign  tourists  had  checked  into hotels but were not being permitted to move out of the hotel by the District authorities.
-  In some cases it was informed that District Administration is advising local tour operators to ensure that the foreign tourists leave the destination.

The Ministry of  Tourism  is  in  constant  touch  with  the  concerned authorities in the States to facilitate such tourists who have been facing issues. The Ministry has also advised the CMD - ITDC to accommodate tourists in the Samrat Hotel in Delhi and the same has been done as and when required.

A letter was issued to all Hotel Associations not to deny accommodation  to  foreign  tourists  and  to  follow  required  procedures prescribed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

- (xii) Based  on  communication  addressed  to  Secretary  (Tourism)  by Cabinet Secretary, a letter has been issued to the Pr. Secretary / Secretary  (Tourism)  of  all  States  /  UTs  requesting  them  to identify facilities / buildings, if there are any that can be used as quarantine centers or can be converted to temporary hospitals with isolation facilities. States / UTs have also been requested to facilitate surveillance activities and to maintain a vigil particularly at major tourist spots and towns across the country.
- (xiii) The  issue  of  waiving  of  cancellation  charges  on  account  of cancellation of tour packages, hotel accommodation, and air and rail tickets has been raised by the Tour Operator Associations.
-  A letter in this regard has been addressed to the Hon'ble Minister  of  State  for  Civil  Aviation  (IC)  by  the  Hon'ble Minister of State for Tourism (IC) requesting that advisories  may  be  issued  to  airline  operators  and  other stakeholders  in the aviation industry to resist  from charging any fee / levies towards cancellation/ rescheduling  of  air  tickets  till  such  time  the  situation normalizes.
-  Letters also sent to all Travel & Hospitality Associations, State  Governments  &  UT  Administrations,  Ministries  of Civil Aviation and Railways on the issue.

(xiv) A  meeting  with  stakeholders  was  chaired  by  the  Hon'ble Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) on 13.3.2020, wherein the stakeholders made several suggestions  on  measures  that  could  be  taken  to  keep  the confidence  of  the  industry,  consumers  and  stakeholders, which will  be  considered  for    taking  up  with  the  concerned Ministries/  authorities.  It  was  also  discussed  that  the  travel industry  should  start  formalizing  plans  for  revival,  once  the situation stabilizes and is under control.

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