(a) whether the Government has signed agreements for partnerships with other countries to promote tourism in India;
(b) if so, the details thereof, country-wise;
(c) whether the number of tourists from these countries have increased during the last two years; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
(SHRI PRAHLAD SINGH PATEL)
(a) & (b): The signing of Agreements/Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with various countries is an ongoing process and the Ministry of Tourism has signed Agreements/MoUs in the field of tourism cooperation with other countries and multilateral fora. Details of MoUs/Agreements/Letter of Intent (LoI) signed with various countries for bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the field of Tourism may be seen at Annexure-I.
The main objective of such Agreements/MoUs signed by the Ministry of Tourism is primarily to promote tourism between both sides. The important components of the Agreements/MoUs include the following:
i) Exchange of information and data related to tourism.
ii) Cooperation between tourism stakeholders including hotels & Tour operators.
iii) Exchange of visits of Tour Operators/Media/Opinion Makers for promotion of two way tourism.
iv) Exchange programmes for cooperation in Human Resource Development.
v) Investment in the Tourism and Hospitality sector.
vi) Exchange of experience in the areas of promotion, marketing, destination development and management.
vii) Participation in travel fairs/exhibitions in each other’s country.
(c) & (d): The tourist arrival figures for the year 2016 and 2017 from the countries with whom the Ministry of Tourism has entered in to Agreement/MoU may be seen at Annexure-II. The nationality-wise Foreign Tourist Arrivals during the year 2018 is not yet available.
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