Commonwealth Games to showcase India: Selja

Commonwealth Games 2010 has given an opportunity to showcase India as a unique and hospitable tourism destination, Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said Thursday.

‘Commonwealth Games have given an opportunity for showcasing India as a unique and hospitable tourism destination. It is expected that a large number of tourists would visit the country next year bringing back the buoyancy in the sector,’ she said, addressing a summit on ‘Tourism: Tackling the Global Crisis’ in London.

Around 80 tourism ministers from across the world are addressing the summit, organised by the United Nations’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) – a specialised agency of the United Nations and the leading international organisation in the field of tourism. It serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and a practical source of tourism know-how.

Selja said her ministry has been working towards developing adequate accommodation, sprucing up the tourism infrastructure and enhancing the quality of hospitality related services to make the visit a truly pleasurable and enriching experience for visitors during and after CWG-2010.

The goodwill generated through the successful organisation of this mega-sporting event would enable a sustainable growth of tourism sector, the minister said.

The Commonwealth Games, scheduled from Oct 3 to 14 next year, are expected to attract over 100,000 visitors to India.

Selja also pointed out how the global economic slowdown had a ‘cascading effect on the tourism sector and has adversely affected tourism world over’.

The tourism minister said India has taken several initiatives to meet the challenges posed by the global meltdown challenges.

India has introduced ‘Visit India Year – 2009′ in close partnership with airlines, hotels and tour operators to attract visitors to India from different countries for a repeat visit.

She said they have also launched advertising campaigns and roadshows in key markets.

‘India is also making conscious efforts to develop emerging short and medium haul markets,’ she added.

The minister said they have launched ‘heliport tourism’ to connect remote areas that are not accessible and to promote them through helicopter rides, as well as ‘wellness tourism’ and ‘caravan tourism’.

Caravan tourism, which is a very popular concept abroad, will also be popularised in India and involves the use of a specially-equipped vehicle deployed on a tourist circuit and connecting it by road.