Lok Sabha Question No. 2269 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-08
Subject: Agreement to promote Tourism
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Umesh G. Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2269 ANSWERED ON 08.07.2019

## AGREEMENT TO PROMOTE TOURISM

2269. DR. UMESH G. JADHAV:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has signed agreements for partnerships with other countries to promote tourism in India;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, country-wise;
- (c) whether  the  number  of  tourists  from  these  countries  have increased during the last two years; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b): The signing of Agreements/Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs)  with  various  countries  is  an  ongoing  process  and  the Ministry  of  Tourism  has  signed  Agreements/MoUs  in  the  field  of tourism  cooperation  with  other  countries  and  multilateral  fora. Details of MoUs/Agreements/Letter  of  Intent  (LoI) signed with various  countries  for  bilateral  and  multilateral  cooperation  in  the field of Tourism may be seen at Annexure-I.

The  main  objective  of  such  Agreements/MoUs  signed  by  the Ministry  of  Tourism  is  primarily  to  promote  tourism  between  both sides. The important components of the Agreements/MoUs include the following:

- i) Exchange of information and data related to tourism.
2. ii) Cooperation between tourism stakeholders including hotels & Tour operators.
3. iii) Exchange of visits of Tour Operators/Media/Opinion Makers for promotion of two way tourism.
4. iv) Exchange programmes for cooperation in Human Resource Development.
- v) Investment in the Tourism and Hospitality sector.
6. vi) Exchange  of  experience  in  the areas  of promotion, marketing, destination development and management.
7. vii) Participation  in  travel  fairs/exhibitions  in  each  other's country.

(c) & (d): The  tourist  arrival  figures  for  the  year  2016  and  2017 from the countries with whom the Ministry of Tourism has entered in  to  Agreement/MoU may be seen at Annexure-II. The nationalitywise  Foreign  Tourist  Arrivals  during  the  year  2018  is  not  yet available.

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ANNEXURE-I

STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  AND  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2269 ANSWERED ON 08.07.2019 REGARDING AGREEMENT TO PROMOTE TOURISM.

Agreements  /  Memorandum  of  Understanding  Signed  with  foreign countries by the Ministry of Tourism

|   Sl. No | Name of the country with whom MoU/ Agreement/Protocols singed   | MoU / Agreement / LoI   | Date of signature   |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------|
|        1 | Iraq                                                            | Protocol                | 25.10.1986          |
|        2 | Portugal                                                        | Agreement               | 29.07.1991          |
|        3 | Syria                                                           | Agreement               | 08.10.1991          |
|        4 | Israel                                                          | Agreement               | 18.05.1993          |
|        5 | Singapore                                                       | Agreement               | 24.01.1994          |
|        6 | Russia                                                          | Agreement               | 30.06.1994          |
|        7 | Iran                                                            | MoU                     | 18.04.1995          |
|        8 | Mexico                                                          | Agreement               | 28.03.1996          |
|        9 | Cyprus                                                          | Agreement               | 07.11.1996          |
|       10 | Greece                                                          | Agreement               | 13.01.1998          |
|       11 | Indonesia                                                       | MoU                     | 08.02.2000          |
|       12 | Italy                                                           | Agreement               | 26.06.2000          |
|       13 | Sri Lanka                                                       | MoU                     | 23.01.2004          |
|       14 | Brazil                                                          | Agreement               | 25.01.2004          |
|       15 | Serbia                                                          | MoU                     | 02.11.2004          |
|       16 | Poland                                                          | Agreement               | 25.04.2009          |
|       17 | Malaysia                                                        | MoU                     | 27.10.2010          |
|       18 | ASEAN                                                           | MoU                     | 12.01.2012          |
|       19 | Mauritius                                                       | MoU                     | 12.03.2013          |
|       20 | Japan                                                           | Memorandum              | 22.01.2014          |
|       21 | Australia                                                       | MoU                     | 18.11.2014          |
|       22 | Nepal                                                           | MoU                     | 25.11.2014          |

|   23. | France       | LoI       | 09.04.2015   |
|-------|--------------|-----------|--------------|
|    24 | China        | Agreement | 15.05.2015   |
|    25 | Tanzania     | MoU       | 19.06.2015   |
|    26 | Turkmenistan | MoU       | 11.07.2015   |
|    27 | Egypt        | MoU       | 24.08.2015   |
|    28 | U.A.E.       | MoU       | 03.09.2015   |
|    29 | Cambodia     | MoU       | 16.09.2015   |
|    30 | Maldives     | MoU       | 10.04.2016   |
|    31 | Qatar        | MoU       | 05.06.2016   |
|    32 | South Africa | MoU       | 08.07.2016   |
|    33 | Kyrgyzstan   | MoU       | 20.12.2016   |
|    34 | Oman         | MoU       | 11.02.2018   |
|    35 | Bulgaria     | MoU       | 05.09.2018   |
|    36 | Malta        | MoU       | 17.09.2018   |
|    37 | Romania      | MoU       | 19.09.2018   |
|    38 | Colombia     | MoU       | 04.10.2018   |
|    39 | Uzbekistan   | Agreement | 01.10.2018   |
|    40 | Korea        | MOU       | 05.11.2018   |
|    41 | Argentina    | MoU       | 18.02.2019   |
|    42 | Saudi Arabia | MoU       | 20.02.2019   |
|    43 | Croatia      | MoU       | 26.03.2019   |

*********

ANNEXURE-II

STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (c)  AND  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2269 ANSWERED  ON  08.07.2019 REGARDING AGREEMENT TO PROMOTE TOURISM.

Tourist  arrival  figures  from  the  countries  with  whom  Ministry  of Tourism has signed Agreements / Memorandum of Understanding

|   Sl. No | Name of the country   |   Arrival in 2016 |   Arrival in 2017 |   Growth %age in 2017 over 2016 |
|----------|-----------------------|-------------------|-------------------|---------------------------------|
|        1 | Iraq                  |             48227 |             56230 |                           16.59 |
|        2 | Portugal              |             54439 |             66378 |                           21.93 |
|        3 | Syria                 |              6267 |              5108 |                          -18.49 |
|        4 | Israel                |             59231 |             58131 |                           -1.86 |
|        5 | Singapore *           |            163688 |            175852 |                            7.43 |
|        6 | Russia                |            227749 |            278904 |                           22.46 |
|        7 | Iran                  |             39184 |             42641 |                            8.82 |
|        8 | Mexico                |             15689 |             18114 |                           15.46 |
|        9 | Cyprus                |              1621 |              1856 |                           14.5  |
|       10 | Greece                |              9048 |             10286 |                           13.68 |
|       11 | Indonesia *           |             35084 |             43973 |                           25.34 |
|       12 | Italy                 |             95417 |            111915 |                           17.29 |
|       13 | Sri Lanka             |            297418 |            303590 |                            2.08 |
|       14 | Brazil                |             21289 |             24453 |                           14.86 |
|       15 | Serbia                |              3673 |              4378 |                           19.19 |
|       16 | Poland                |             25706 |             28674 |                           11.55 |
|       17 | Malaysia *            |            301961 |            322126 |                            6.68 |
|       18 | ASEAN                 |            745868 |            824575 |                           10.55 |
|       19 | Mauritius             |             34280 |             37706 |                            9.99 |
|       20 | Japan                 |            208847 |            222527 |                            6.55 |
|       21 | Australia             |            293625 |            324243 |                           10.43 |
|       22 | Nepal                 |            161097 |            164018 |                            1.81 |
|       23 | France                |            238707 |            249620 |                            4.57 |
|       24 | China                 |            251313 |            247235 |                           -1.62 |
|       25 | Tanzania              |             23026 |             22261 |                           -3.32 |
|       26 | Turkmenistan          |             14302 |             17653 |                           23.43 |
|       27 | Egypt                 |             20864 |             20528 |                           -1.61 |

| 28.   | U.A.E.       |   67165 |   67238 |   0.11 |
|-------|--------------|---------|---------|--------|
| 29.   | Cambodia *   |    2593 |    5334 | 105.71 |
| 30.   | Maldives     |   67457 |   66150 |  -1.94 |
| 31.   | Qatar        |    7486 |    6963 |  -6.99 |
| 32.   | South Africa |   52636 |   57060 |   8.4  |
| 33.   | Kyrgyzstan   |    3429 |    4048 |  18.05 |
| 34.   | Oman         |  105705 |  107217 |   1.43 |
| 35.   | Bulgaria     |    6271 |    5288 | -15.68 |
| 36.   | Malta        |     937 |    1358 |  44.93 |
| 37.   | Romania      |    9936 |   11844 |  19.2  |
| 38.   | Colombia     |    5749 |    7043 |  22.51 |
| 39.   | Uzbekistan   |   21605 |   23257 |   7.65 |
| 40.   | Korea        |  111076 |  142383 |  28.19 |
| 41.   | Argentina    |   12308 |   14875 |  20.86 |
| 42.   | Saudi Arabia |   61605 |   52976 | -14.01 |
| 43.   | Croatia      |    3314 |    3593 |   8.42 |
|       | TOTAL        | 3936892 | 4259602 |   8.2  |

*These  countries  have  also  been  included  in  the  ASEAN  group  of countries. *********