Tourism Sector to grow Faster in India

India is a culturally very rich country. For many people across the globe India is always on high priority list for a tour. That is why India has always attracted numerous tourist from across all the nations for various reasons.

However, much still remains to be done to attract more tourists to India. Medical tourism is one type of tourism for which many people visit India. The reliable medical services available in India at relatively affordable prices is the reason why this tourism is flourishing in India.

The development and promotion of tourism primarily is the responsibility of the State Governments or Union Territory Administrations. The Ministry of Tourism as part of its ongoing promotional activities released campaigns in the international and domestic markets and also undertook other promotional activities including Promotion of Medical Tourism.

What more is needed

However, in order to provide dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of Medical Tourism, Wellness Tourism and Yoga, Ayurveda Tourism and any other format of Indian system of medicine covered by Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH), a National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board has been constituted.

The Board works as an umbrella organisation that governs and promotes this segment of tourism in an organised manner. The Ministry drives the promotion of Medical and Wellness Tourism and acts as a facilitator and supports the medical and wellness segment in promoting tourism and promoting India as a medical and wellness destination.

The issues relating to regulations, monitoring, marketing and promotion of Medical and Wellness Tourism are looked into by the Board. The foreign tourists who visited India for medical purpose during 2012, 2013 and 2014 were 171021, 236898 and 184298, respectively.

India and Maldives for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently granted ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ministry of Tourism, Government of In-dia and the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Maldives for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism.

The Memorandum of Understanding with Maldives will be instrumental in increasing arrival from this important source market. In recent years, Maldives has emerged as an important tourism generat-ing market for India.

Objectives:

The main objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding, are:
1. To expand bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector
2. To exchange information and data related to tourism
3. To encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders, including hotels and tour operator
4. To establish exchange programme for cooperation in Human Resources Development
5. To invest in the Tourism and Hospitality sectors
6. To exchange visits of Tour Operators or Media or Opinion Makers for promotion of two-way tourism
7. To exchange experiences in the areas of promotion, marketing, destination development and management
8. To participate in travel fairs and exhibitions in each other's country and
9. To promote safe honourable and sustainable tourism