Exclusive! New Tourism Policy to overhaul India's travel sector

The Narendra Modi Government has started work on making India the next Tourism Destination with big changes proposed. As a travel destination few other nations can offer the diversity of products & experiences found in India.  The New Tourism Policy 2020 which has been formulated revolves around ten strategic pillars which are Welcome the Visitor, Seamless connectivity, Destination planning, Investment promotion, Develop and Diversify Tourism Products, Market India, Quality assurance & standards, Market research & intelligence and Skill development said sources privy to the development. The draft new tourism policy 2020 has been floated to ministries for comments and we are hopeful that the cabinet approval will be sought soon, the source added.

The policy marks a decisive shift from department & scheme centric approach to a tourist and destination centric approach. The government is looking at providing incentives to attract investors to make investments viable and competitive. Incentives like Infrastructure status to hospitality projects by central government, Industry status to the hospitality projects under industrial policies of the state, Rationalisation of Taxes, GST Refund to tourists while they leave the country are being proposed said sources. Specific strategies will be chalked out to promote investments in various tourism sectors like Accomodation, Travel agents, Tour operators, adventure tour operators, cruise etc. With the new Tourism policy in place the government estimates increase in domestic visits to 3.6 billion. 

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Sources also add that the mission of the policy is to accelerate growth of inbound and domestic tourism in a sustainable and responsible manner which will position India as welcoming, safe, clean, hygienic and accessible destination. Under the new policy, last mile connectivity will also be the focus as tourists often face problems in having multiple options of travelling to the desired destination. Sea planes, Helicopter facilities, cruise, road network will be enhanced to offer more facilities to the tourist.