The government appoints tourism officers in 20 missions.
The government has appointed tourism officers on missions in 20 countries whose citizens make up a portion of tourists visiting India. These countries include the US, UK, Canada, Australia, France, and Singapore.
Tourism officials at these embassies and high commissions will be the point of contact for the Ministry of Tourism and other tourism stakeholders.
In a tweet, the Union Minister of Tourism, G Kishan Reddy, thanked the Union Minister of Foreign Affairs, S Jaishankar, for accepting his request and authorizing the appointment of these tourism officers. “I would like to thank the Honorable EAM Sri S Jaishankar Garu for his prompt response to my letter requesting dedicated tourism officers on 20 overseas missions. We now have identified tourism officers in 20 overseas missions, where we have a large influx of tourists, ”Reddy tweeted earlier this week.
From now on, the Ministry of Tourism tries to position India as a preferred tourist destination, through its eight overseas offices. With Covid-19 halting foreign tourist arrivals for more than 18 months and the government now looking to gain significant market share, the Ministry is making a renewed effort.
In a notification, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Minister of Tourism has written to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs regarding the appointment of tourism officers in 20 Indian missions. The list of Indian missions where tourism officers have been appointed comprises Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Netherlands, UK, and US
In 2018, the Center closed seven of its 14 tourist offices abroad, including those in Paris, Amsterdam, Toronto, and London.
Arguing that in today’s digital world there were not so many offices needed abroad, then-Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons told The Indian Express: “The plan is to remodel these 14 offices in eight regional centers. for greater efficiency … Offices in Toronto and Los Angeles are the first to be liquidated. ”
Offices in Paris (France), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Milan (Italy), Sydney (Australia), and Johannesburg (South Africa) were closed, while those in New York (USA), Beijing (China), Singapore, Tokyo (Japan)), Dubai (UAE), Frankfurt (Germany) and London (UK) continue to operate, while a new office was added in Moscow to cater for the growing influx of tourists from Eastern Europe.
According to sources from the Ministry of Tourism, the movie follows an internal survey conducted by the Overseas Marketing Division in Delhi to assess the cost of running these overseas offices compared to the revenue they generate in the respective markets. The study found that several offices are not profitable.
