The scorching summer affecting most parts of India seems to have had no bearing on the tourism industry. Rather, the tourism sector got a boost at around the same time that the new NDA government took charge.
The latest data of the tourism ministry showed 4.21 lakh foreign tourists came to India in May as against 3.84 lakh tourists who visited India during the same period last year. "There has been a growth of 9.7 per cent in May 2014 over May 2013, as compared to a growth of 2.5 per cent registered in May 2013 over May 2012," said a senior official of the tourism ministry.
There was also an increase in issuance of Visas on Arrival (VoA). In May 2014, 1,833 VoAs were issued as compared to 1,114 VoAs during the same month last year, marking a growth of 64.5 per cent. Tourism tops Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda as he wants the sector to be a significant driver of growth for India. During his tenure as chief minister of Gujarat, Modi introduced several measures aimed at encouraging visitors.
Ministry officials claim that Modi wants the same results at the national level. Though the tourism industry seems to be witnessing a revival, hoteliers said a lot more needs to be done to boost the economy so that it could, in turn, benefit the hotel sector. "It is good that the arrival of foreign tourists has increased.
A majority of luxury hotels in metropolitan cities run on business travelers and there is not much growth there," Tarun Thakral, chief operating officer of Le Meridien, explained. "We are waiting to see what the government does to attract more investment and bring in more joint ventures," he added.
For the last five years, the industry has been struggling with low occupancies and poor room rates in major metro cities due to poor numbers of foreign tourists arriving in India. Last year, India received a dismal 6.5 million, or just 0.6 per cent of the world's in-bound tourist traffic. Of these, nearly three million were people of Indian origin and tourists from Nepal.
The new government, however, has given some hope by declaring tourism as its top priority. It is one of the 5Ts - talent, tradition, tourism, trade and technology - that the government wants to focus on.
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