Travel, Tourism & Hospitality
India mulls new national tourism policy; focus on Mice sector
India is drafting a new tourism policy that will provide proper response, investments and support at all levels and also focus on the development of MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism industry, said a report.
India is drafting a new tourism policy that will provide proper response, investments and support at all levels - from village gram panchayats to governments, reported eTN, citing the country's tourism minister.
The tourism sector is one of the major sectors in India for economic growth and employment generation. A draft strategy is also in the works for the development of the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism industry," remarked Minister of Culture, Tourism and Development of the Northeastern Region G. Kishan Reddy.
The minister said there is a need to focus energies on not just reviving the sector but making this sector one of the drivers to revive the economy.
Addressing the “2nd Travel, Tourism & Hospitality E Conclave – Resilience & The Road to Recovery,” organized virtually by FICCI, Reddy said: "Once we adopt the new policy, it will be helpful, particularly for the stakeholders. Through this policy, we will get proper response, investments, and support from village gram panchayats to governments."
He pointout that the central government was playing an important role in developing a strong visitor economy which is evident from the fact that the Ministry of Tourism has also undertaken a slew of initiatives, such as the Incredible India 2.0 campaign focusing on niche tourism products including wellness and adventure tourism.
It has also invested heavily into the tourism industry through schemes, such as PRASHAD and Swadesh Darshan along with extension of the e-visa to 169 countries, which has proven to be successful in increasing the number of foreign and domestic visitors in India.
On the draft strategy for the development of Mice tourism, Reddy said: "All stakeholders should come forward and share their opinion. They must also impress upon the state governments to give industry status to tourism as this will greatly help in developing the sector, particularly the infrastructure."
"To achieve the true potential of tourism, the fundamental requirement is to ensure coordination at every level of the activity. We need to have a pro-active approach from every stakeholder including the industry, state government, and central government," he added.