Foreign Tourist Arrivals registered a positive growth in India
Travelbiznews Report —-
New Delhi : The number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India has registered a positive growth during e the last three years and the current year.
The number of FTAs and the growth registered over the previous year during 2011 was 6.31million ( 9.2 % growth rate ), 6.58 million ( 4.3 % ) in 2012 , 6.97 million ( 5.9 % ) in 2013 and provisional figure 6.58 million during January – November this year.
The steps taken to boost tourism in the country include publicity and promotion, electronic travel Authorization, restriction on gap for re-entry lifted, safety of women tourists, cleanliness and hygiene, trained language speaking guides among others according to a statement by the Union Minister of State for Tourism recently.
Likewise , the Union Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 29 projects of Tourism for the North Eastern States during the year 2014-15. These include 9 projects in Nagaland, 8 in Sikkim, 5 in Manipur, 4 in Arunachal Pradesh, 3 in Mizoram.
The Ministry of Tourism has not sanctioned any amount to the State of Tripura this year because the State has a Utilization Certificate pendency of Rs.16.63 crore under the various schemes of the Ministry of Tourism.
This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), Dr. Mahesh Sharma in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha recently.
The Union Ministry of Tourism (MOT) provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) up to an amount of Rs.25.00 crore for Mega Destinations and Rs.50.00 crore for Mega Circuits respectively, under Centrally Sponsored Scheme viz. Project/Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits (PIDDC) to various State Governments and Union Territory Administrations prioritized in consultation with them, as per the Scheme Guidelines, inter-se priority, liquidation of pending utilization certificates against the funds released earlier and adherence to the scheme guidelines.
In addition , five tourist circuits around specific themes to be created under a new Central Sector Scheme announced in the Union Budget 2014-15 and an amount of Rs.500.00 crore has been earmarked for this purpose in the current financial year according to a statement of PIB/ India.
Dec. 2014
