Lok Sabha Question No. 1299 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-25
Subject: Observation of World Tourism Day
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, A.K.P. Chinraj, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, Supriya Sadanand Sule

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1299 ANSWERED ON 25.11.2019

## OBSERVATION OF WORLD TOURISM DAY

## 1299. SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

SHRI A.K.P. CHINRAJ:

DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE:

SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has observed World Tourism Day recently and if so, the details thereof along with the aims and objectives;
- (b) the details of the theme of the event along with the programmes/events organized by the Government on this occasion;
- (c) the number of foreign tourists especially from neighbouring countries travelling to India during last three years and the current year  and  the  quantum  of  foreign  exchange  earned  specially  in Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
- (d) whether the Government has been able to achieve the target fixed for foreign tourist inflow during the last three years and if not, the corrective steps taken in this direction; and
- (e) whether domestic tourism has been on decline, if so, whether the Government has looked  into  the  problem  and  the  remedial  steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a): Yes, Sir. The United Nations World Tourism organization (UNWTO) had designated India as the host for celebrating the World Tourism Day on 27 th  September 2019. The aim and objective of the World Tourism Day celebration  is  to  foster  awareness  among  the  global  community  of tourism's social, cultural, political and economic value and the contribution the sector can make in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.

- (b): The theme of the World Tourism Day 2019 was 'Tourism and Jobs: a  better  future  for  all'.    The  programme  held  in  New  Delhi  included an opening session where in, a workshop on 'Tourism Jobs of the Future' organized by UNWTO in collaboration with Outlook Responsible Tourism Initiative, Panel discussion on 'Maximizing Tourism's potential to create more and better Jobs' in addition to a presentation 'The Future is NowThe UNWTO Online Academy' by UNWTO. As part of the World Tourism Day  celebrations,  the  National  Tourism  awards  were  presented  to various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. An MoU on  Tourism  Cooperation  between  India  and  Paraguay  was  also  signed during the World Tourism Day celebrations.

Hon'ble  Vice  President  of  India  was  the  chief  guest  for  opening session  and  the  event  was  attended  by  Union  Minister  of  State  for Tourism & Culture (IC) Secretary-General of UNWTO, Tourism Minister of Paraguay among others.

- (c): The  details  of  number  of  foreign  tourist  including  those  from neighbouring countries who had travelled to India during last three years and  foreign  exchange  earnings  is  at  Annexure  I  &  II.  The  Ministry  of Tourism  does  not  compile  State/UT  wise  foreign  exchange  earnings through tourism activity.
- (d): Arrival of tourists depends on many factors therefore, there is no fixed  target  set  by  the  Ministry  of  Tourism  for  foreign  tourist  arrivals. However to improve the growth of foreign tourist arrivals the government of India has taken a slew of measures like relaxation in the Visa rules, introduction of E-Visa for 5 year duration in addition to one year e-Visa, e-visa for private conferences  organized  by  private persons/companies/  organizations  and  above  all  reduction  in  visa  fee which has considerably  brought    down  the  cost  of  travel  to  India  and bound  to  boost  arrivals  during  the  lean  months  and  increase  tourism competitiveness  of  the  country.    The  Government  of  India  has  also considerably reduced GST rates on hotel tariffs.
- (e): The  number  of  Domestic  Tourist  visits  has  been  on  rise.  The Domestic  Tourist  Visits  in  2018  was  1854.9  million  as  against  1657.6 million in 2017 there by registering a growth of 11.9%.

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ANNEXURE-I STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED REGARDING

QUESTION NO.1299 ANSWERED ON 25.11.2019 OBSERVATION OF WORLD TOURISM DAY.

Foreign Tourist arrivals (FTAs) from neighbouring countries for the year 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 (Provisional up to October) is given below:

| Countries   |    2016 |    2017 |    2018 |   2019* |
|-------------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
| Afghanistan |  123330 |  149176 |  153905 |  128445 |
| Bangladesh  | 1380409 | 2156557 | 2256675 | 2090867 |
| Bhutan      |   20940 |   25267 |   26470 |   22707 |
| China       |  251313 |  247235 |  281768 |  261539 |
| Maldives    |   67457 |   66150 |   62337 |   58388 |
| Nepal       |  161097 |  164018 |  174096 |  137560 |
| Pakistan    |  104720 |   44266 |   41514 |   23591 |
| Sri Lanka   |  297418 |  303590 |  353684 |  280034 |

*Provisional figures till October month.

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ANNEXURE-II STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1299 ANSWERED ON 25.11.2019 REGARDING OBSERVATION OF WORLD TOURISM DAY. Foreign Exchange Earnings through tourism in India

| Year   | in Rs. Crore   |   in US$ billion |
|--------|----------------|------------------|
| 2016   | 1,54,146       |           22.923 |
| 2017   | 1,77,874       |           27.31  |
| 2018   | 1,94,881       |           28.586 |
| 2019*  | 1,68,533       |           24.009 |

*Provisional figures till October month.

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