TBM Staff - Mumbai According to a report in The HT, the three-day National Conference of State Tourism Minister ended on September 20 with the adoption of the “Dharamshala Declaration” which affirms commitment toward developing “sustainable and responsible tourism” and positions India as a “global leader in the tourism sector by 2047”.
The document titled Dharamshala Declaration-2020: Sustainable and Responsible Tourism asserts that India will play a pivotal role in contributing toward global tourism recovery driven mainly through domestic tourism.
“All the major indices of tourism have started showing signs of recovery toward the pre-pandemic levels such as domestic air passenger traffic, hotel occupancy and tourist footfalls,” it states.
It also says that the National Tourism Policy has been drafted with a holistic vision and strategy to revive India’s tourism and targets to achieve USD 1 Trillion by the sector in 2047.
Against this backdrop, the Government of India is also paving way for the development of sustainable and responsible tourism destinations.
“The government will continue to support MSMEs in the tourism sector and capitalize on the employment generating potential of the industry,” it says.
The Dharamshala Declaration also affirms the plan to position India as a major tourism destination during its presidency of G-20 next year.
“We plan to showcase our cultural richness while welcoming the world to our nation,” it says.
It announces to bring in necessary interventions including visa reforms, ease of travel, travel-friendly immigration facilities at airports and openness to international travel.
Apart from it, the document talks about the short-term and long-term goals in the tourism sector.
In short term, the Indian tourism industry will strive to recover to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2024. The country is estimated to achieve USD 150 billion GDP contribution, USD 30 billion foreign exchange earnings and 15 million foreign tourist arrivals by that period,’ it says.
