365 Days Tourism Destination: Incredible India Show At Arabian Travel Market

Highlighting India’s rich and diversified tourism potential and providing a platform to the tourism stakeholders, the Tourism Ministry is participating in the Arabian Travel Market at Dubai-2022 to showcase the various tourism destinations and products including niche products.

Showcased as Incredible India from 9 May to 12 May, it is also aimed to promote India as a ‘Must See, Must Visit’ destination.

India Pavilion is showcasing the country as a “365 Days Destination” round the year multi-faceted tourist destinations such as culture, adventure, cruise, golf, luxury, wildlife, wellness and medical tourism etc.

India Reopening as a theme has also been amplified at the event with the ‘Namaste Campaign’ to welcome international travellers showcasing must-visit destinations of India.

The India Pavilion was inaugurated in the presence of Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj, Additional Director General of Tourism Ministry Rupinder Brar, Consul General of India to Dubai Aman Puri, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board MD Sheo Shekhar Shukla and Nagaland Commissioner Kitto Zhimomi.

Around 18 participants from India representing the state tourism government of Kerala and Nagaland, and tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers/resorts, will be present in the India Pavilion showcasing the diverse tourism products and services. Apart from this, state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka are also showcasing the tourism potential that states have to offer.

The Indian tourism outlook is certainly very promising with an upward trend in foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) barring the period of Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020 when international travel was suspended in majority parts of the world.

As the situation is getting slowly and steadily normalised and international travel has resumed, India is seeing a positive response from most of the source markets. The Gulf and the Middle East region is one of the most important markets for India.

The availability of e-Visa facilities in three different segments that are tourist, business and medical segments makes it far more convenient for visitors to travel to India. Also, Ministry of Tourism has been undertaking focused campaigns to target the Indian Diaspora in line with the appeal Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘Chalo India’ thereby urging Indian Diaspora to inspire at least five of their non-Indian friends every year to visit India, calling them 'Rashtradoot'.

India is a destination with its kaleidoscope of ancient culture and heritage, ancient systems of healing like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy, natural beauty including 70 per cent of the Himalayas and over 7,500 km long coastline, rich flora and fauna, world class medical facilities and many other aspects make India the favored destination for the discerning traveler. The enchanting backwaters, hill stations and landscapes make India a beautiful country.

India’s rich and diverse natural, cultural, and religious heritage provides a unique opportunity for tourism, ranging from the architecture of palaces, forts, temples, to the grandeur of its sculptures, and the beauty of its paintings, the scenic landscapes all offering an unparalleled experience.

The Indian Himalayas are a complete destination in themselves and span across six states of India namely Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and the hill regions of West Bengal.

Theme based schemes for the integrated development of circuits for improvement of infrastructure in the country had been launched by the Ministry of Tourism to enable tourists to experience the destination fully.

The Ministry of Tourism has also taken the initiative of identifying, diversifying, developing and promoting nascent/upcoming niche tourism products. These have resulted in the development of unique products like rural, adventure, eco, wellness, golf, medical and cruise tourism.

One of the regions in focus is the North East of India which comprises the eight states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. Promotion of tourism of the North Eastern states of India with its rich and diverse tourism products, variety of flora and fauna, and also home to the unique Asian one horned rhino, is being given special emphasis.

This area is also becoming popular with tourists for river cruises. In order to showcase the tourism potential of the region in domestic and key international markets, the Ministry of Tourism in association with the North-Eastern States organises the International Tourism Mart (ITM) annually in one of the North Eastern states.