Speaking on the occasion, Shri Birla said that post-Covid, the tourism sector is reviving in India at a faster pace. He further said that committed and collective efforts will ensure that India will emerge as the best tourist destination in the world. “The way we collectively defeated Covid-19, our collective force and coordinated efforts will take our economy to a new height,” said Shri Birla. Tourism is one of the growth engines of economy and employment. Therefore, special focus is needed for further development of this sector, he added.
On the vast tourism potential in India, Shri Birla said that our rich cultural heritage and diverse geography attract tourists from all over the world. There is tremendous potential in India in the fields of environment, spiritual, education and medical tourism. India’s domestic and foreign policy have provided an enabling environment for promotion of tourism. Our goal must be to make India the number one tourist destination. In this regard, more and more efforts should be made to develop tourist friendly destinations, the Speaker observed. Shri Birla emphasized on use of information technology tools in promoting tourism both at the domestic and international levels.
On this occasion, Shri Birla launched NIDHI 2.0 (National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry) and released “India Tourism Statistics: At a Glance, 2021. NIDHI 2.0 data base which was released today will be a milestone in this endeavour, hoped Shri Birla.The Ministry of Tourism, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and The Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI) have signed an MoU to actively promote and support ‘sustainability initiatives’ in the tourism sector, which was also exchanged at the event.
The Union Tourism Minister, Shri G Kishan Reddy while addressing the gathering said, “The tourism sector is one of those few sectors which have suffered a lot due to this pandemic and the early resumption of tourism is very important for the recovery and growth of this sector”. He added, “As on date, India has already administered over 85 crores vaccination doses to its citizens. With the ongoing aggressive vaccination strategy, we are now a step closer to the reopening of the country to tourism in the beginning of the new year. I am grateful to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for his relentless focus on vaccination”. he added.
He lauded the efforts of the ministry and said “The National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry ( NIDHI) is the ministry’s portal to register accommodation units in the country and as on date 44,024 units have been registered on the portal which was activated on 08.06.2020.”
Shri Reddy said, “The Prime Minister’s vision has been to use Tourism as a tool for employment generation and inclusive development”. The Tourism Sector has the highest job creating potential among the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, he added.
MoS for Tourism Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, in his address said that the revival of Tourism plays an important role in the recovery of global economy. Tourism sustainability is relevant for both developed and developing countries for its impacts on the environment, economy, and socio-cultural aspects of global, regional, and local economies. Shri Naik added that by adopting Responsible Tourism practices, tourism plays an important role in the upliftment and involvement of the local community with the hospitality industry and government departments, leading to empowerment and development of the people in the area while sustaining eco-friendly tourism. He also informed that the ministry has planned a detailed strategy to utilize technology to the fullest extent to overcome the setback created by the pandemic.
Secretary, Tourism Sh Arvind Singh said that the Tourism Ministry is working tirelessly to revive the tourism sector which suffered greatly due to the Covid pandemic. It is possible to revive the tourism sector quickly by reviving demand especially of domestic tourism, he said. The Secretary said that the Ministry is holding regular talks with states, and tourism industry stakeholders to work out solutions to revive and support tourism.
Smt Jyoti Mayal of Federation of Association of Indian Tourism & Hospitality ; Shri Rakesh Mathur , Founding Member & Honorary President of RTSOI and Shri Atul Bagai, Head UNEP India also expressed their views on how to revive the tourism sector in the post Covid scenario as well as promote Responsible and Sustainable Tourism that benefits the person at the last mile. “Our immediate objective is to recover the Indian tourism industry from the pandemic and to rightfully move forward with socio-economic contribution towards Indian economy and on the world stage. We surely have the potential of becoming the largest inbound, domestic and even outbound tourism markets of the world & also the largest hub between the east & west. After IT industry, Indian tourism is the next growth engine on the world stage which can leverage a combination of tourism , technology and technical skilling,” said Smt. Mayal in her address.
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