Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of India speaking at the recent inauguration ceremony of India Tourism Mart (ITM) said that the Indian government is planning to soon restart E-Tourist Visas and schedule International flights in a phased manner.
“We have already started issuing medical visas and we are planning to soon restart E-Tourist Visas and schedule International flights in a phased manner. On a reciprocal basis, first with those countries with whom we have an air bubble agreement. The Ministry of health is fully supporting the Ministry of Tourism’s efforts in reviving International tourism to India,” said Vardhan
Indian government has stopped issuing e-tourist visas after the outbreak of the pandemic.
ITM, which is a buyer seller meet is taking place in a virtual format from 18th – 20th Feb 2021.
Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India (ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI, TAFI) in association with Ministry of Tourism and KPMG as its Knowledge Partner is organising ITM. In his inaugural address, Subhash Goyal, Chairman – ITM 2021 and Hony. Secretary, FAITH emphasised how the year gone by was the darkest in the history of mankind and tourism was the worst hit where the travel fraternity was literally left hanging from a thread.
He urged the industry to come together and consolidate their efforts for the revival of tourism in India. “For us to revive the tourism industry and save millions of jobs, we look forward three key actions from our policy makers – re-starting of e-tourist visas; reinstatement of scheduled international flights, at least to those countries with which India has air-bubble arrangements, with the necessary precautions on safety to allow willing travellers the opportunity to travel again and modification of policies to help subsidise or reduce the financial burden on the sector.”
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Amitabh Kant,CEO, Niti Ayog, said that the revival of tourism is integral for India to regain the GDP growth of 9 to 10 per cent sooner than later. He also reiterated that there remains no doubt regarding the recovery of the tourism sector and he is “confident” of its bouncing back.
Nakul Anand, Chairman, FAITH in his address reiterated how the federation has worked closely with the Central as well as the State Governments for the growth of Indian tourism industry.
“We have closely worked with Governments on tourism components and various strategic national and international policies, such as E-Visa, GST, Strategy on monuments, PPP policy, Tourism Vision Document, Foreign Trade, Udan policy, Union Budget discussion, economic surveys, cruise tourism policy, I Respect Women badges and more. Additionally, as a new feature this year, domestic buyers too were invited in this year’s ITM,” he emphasised. Amaresh Tiwari, Co-Chairman, ITM 2021– Virtual and Vice Chairman, ICPB was applauded by all for not just burning the midnight oil in putting together a great event but also for putting together an extremely insightful and knowledgeable panellists together for the Leadership Conclave.
“During these 3 days, there will be 12 Knowledge Sessions with 73 Speakers. At ITM 2021 – Virtual, we have 73 countries participating along with 316 International Buyers, 240 Domestic Buyer and over 1200 delegates joining in virtually,” he shared. Arvind Singh, Secretary Tourism, Government of India; Rakesh Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Meenakshi Sharma, DG Tourism, Government of India in their respective addresses applauded the efforts of FAITH in organising the event virtually and assured complete cooperation of the government in reviving the tourism sector in India starting with revival of e-visa and international flights soon. Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India gave the vote of thanks.
The road ahead vision document prepared by FAITH & KPMG was also released on the occasion.