As reported in the Travel Trade Journal in India , Shri Vinod Zutshi, Secretary Tourism, Government of India shares his optimism about growth numbers, views on the e-Visa initiatives, focus on circuits and more with TTJ, prior to ITB Berlin
With a reiterated focus on tourism and a rather aggressive approach by the Government, which is constantly coming up with new initiatives to bring the world to India; India Tourism is doing better than the cumulative global numbers. “For the past four years, India has been growing in terms of tourist arrivals at a rate of 7 per cent as compared to a cumulative growth rate of 4 to 4.5 per cent the world over. In fact in the year 2014, we registered a growth of almost 10 per cent over the previous year (2013),” shared Shri Zutshi
Talking of growth trends in 2016, he said, “The year has started on a rather upbeat and positive note as we have registered 7 per cent growth this January 2016 vis a vis the same period in 2015, so there is definitely an increased growth. The government and the ministry are very optimistic and aiming at a minimum 10 per cent growth rate as far as foreign tourist arrival numbers to India is concerned.”
Talking of the positive growth in domestic tourism numbers, a rather happy Shri Zutshi said, “The scenario as far as domestic tourism is concerned is extremely heartening and according to statistics India witnessed an astounding 1.45 billion tourist movements by Indians. The growth is at an impressive 13 per cent and we are hoping to take this number to 15 per cent or even more, for the segment.”
India is fast becoming a hub for medical tourists in the region with a lot of initiatives by the government, focussing on the same. Medical facilities in India are least cost as compared to similar facilities abroad. Additionally, we have some of the finest world-class hospitals, with state-of-the-art infrastructure and physicians.
Indian physicians and medical professionals are ranked amongst the world. Given these factors, we shall shortly be the leaders in medical health and wellness tourism as all the ingredients are here. We have exceptional resources when it comes to the physicians and medical professionals in this country. Another major positive is that the wait period for treatment is minimal, and these people can get almost immediate relief. These are the advantages that make India a potential leader in the field of medical tourism and people from Middle East, Europe and the world over are choosing to come to India for treatment.