Siliguri: Union Government is formulating a New Tourism Policy for the Country. Union Minister Tourism G Kishan Reddy has informed it in the Inaugural session of the Second Tourism Working Group Meeting under G20 hosted by the Ministry of Tourism was held at Siliguri, West Bengal today morning.
Minister of State for Minority Affairs, John Barla. Raju Bista, Member of Parliament, Darjeeling was also present in the session.
In his opening remarks, Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and DoNER Shri Reddy welcomed all the participants to the beautiful town of Siliguri.
He opined that Siliguri possesses a rare combination of Diversity, Culture, Tradition, and beauty. Known as The Gateway to the Northeast, the minister said that the place provides amazing travel experiences such as Spirituality in the various Monasteries and Temples, Wildlife and natural beauty in the National Parks, adventure in the form of camping and rafting .
He said that Siliguri is an embodiment of India, a country where diversity delights, culture echoes, tradition speaks and beauty enthrals.
Addressing the session, Shri Reddy further said that the ideas discussed will aid in developing tourism in mission mode. It will also aid India in maximising its potential in the tourism sector. He announced that in order to give a boost to the uniqueness of Indian tourism, the country is observing ‘Visit India Year 2023′ which is a unique, collective movement that invites the world to explore India in the historical year of India’s G20 presidency as well as, grand celebrations of 75 years of Indian Independence – India@75 Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The minister announced that the vision is to make India a one trillion dollar tourism economy by 2047 – our 100th year of Independence.
He also informed that the Ministry of Tourism has also formulated a Draft National Tourism Policy. The new Policy is a holistic framework for sustainable and responsible growth of the tourism sector in the country and aims at improving framework conditions for tourism development in the country, supporting tourism industries, and strengthening tourism to highlight India’s commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goals 2030. The Union Minister said that the aim is to make India a seamless , modern, and smart tourism destination.
Shri Reddy underscored the need for digitalisation of the Tourism Industry which also is a priority of the Tourism Working Group. He informed that the Government of India is working on various niche products like coastal tourism, wildlife tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism, rural,tourism, archaeological tourism, spiritual tourism, destination weddings and others. The minister expressed his confidence that a meaningful framework for realising the potential of adventure tourism will be devised.
