Rashmi Verma inaugurates India pavilion at WTM London 2018
Rashmi Verma, Secretary-Tourism, Government of India has inaugurated the India pavilion at the World Travel Market 2018 in London. Pramod Kumar Singh, Tourism Minister, Bihar; Vellamandi N Natarajan, Tourism Minister, Tamil Nadu; Aashima Mehrotra, Director, Ministry of Tourism and Charanjeet Singh, Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK were also present at the function.
“Last year has been a very good year for India tourism with a growth of about 14 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals and about 19 per cent in terms of foreign receipts, much more than the global growth of 6.8 per cent. We also crossed the 10 million mark for the first time. This was possible because of our adoption of the multi-pronged strategy. We focus hugely on creating world-class infrastructure in and around our tourist sites,” said Rashmi Verma while enlisting the achievements of the Ministry.
“Incredible India 2.0 campaign is more thematic in nature. Looking at the needs and demands of major markets like the US and the UK, we have made some thematic films on niche products like adventure, yoga, Ayurveda, etc. This campaign focuses heavily on social media besides print and electronic media. We are hopeful that through this new Incredible India campaign we will be able to encourage people to revisit india, stay longer and experience the various products we have on offer,” she said.
“More than 250 foreign buyers participated at the first-ever India Tourism Mart (ITM). Buddhist Conclave was also held to showcase various Buddhist destinations in India,” Tourism Secretary said. “India has also been ranked at the third place in WTTC’s new Power and Performance report, which looks at the performance of 185 countries over the last seven-year period (2011-2017). India is fast emerging as a preferred destination worldwide with its innovative tourism products on offer,” she added.