On August 20,2019, The one-day National Conference of Tourism Ministers organised by the Union Ministry of Tourism was held in New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Shri Prahlad Singh Patel,Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (Independent Charge).
Key points
i. State Tourism Ministers of 19 States, Secretaries of Tourism and other senior officials attended the conference.
ii. Three new Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) and five new Letters of Intent (LoIs) to the prospective ‘Monument Mitras’(private sector companies, public sector companies and individuals that adopt tourist sites become monument mitras) were handed over.
iii. Presentations were given by State Governments of Kerala and Sikkim showcasing their best practices in the tourism sector.
Discussions made:
The target of Prime Minister’s dream of doubling the tourists, both foreign and domestic over the next five years were discussed. The other discussions were
- Developing a One Stop Solution on tourism related services through a web based application and a Grievance Redressal Mechanism through Twitter and Tourist-Helpline.
- Adoption of Adventure Tourism and Bed & Breakfast / Homestay Scheme Guidelines by States/UTs(Union Territories).
- Status of projects sanctioned under the Swadesh Darshan& PRASHAD Schemes
- Implementation of Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
- To increase the number of tourists in India.
- States were asked to organize surveys to understand foreign tourists’ perception on India.
Launch of Incredible India portal:
i. Hindi version of the new Incredible India portal was launched.
ii. it was further announced that the Arabic, Chinese and Spanish versions of the new Incredible India website would be launched next month.
About First incredible India portal:
The first new Incredible India website was launched on 14th June 2018. Since its launch, the website has attracted 85,84,928 total visitors including 65,31,722 Unique Visitors as on 31st July, 2019.
Certification portal: Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) portal was launched in the conference. It is a digital initiative for the citizens of India to be part of the Tourism Industry. It is an online programme where one can learn about tourism at their own time, space, path and pace. Successful program completion will certify the learner as Tourist Facilitator of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
About tourism ministry
♦ Formed – 1967.
♦ Headquarters- New Delhi.
♦ Constituency of Prahlad Singh Patel- Madhya Pradesh.