Caravan tourism may find place in govt's new tourism policy

Caravan tourism that mixes adventure tours with luxurious stay may find a place in the new tourism policy of the government.
The move comes in the wake of Kerala and Madhya Pradesh governments promoting caravan tourism and the Centre receiving suggestions to include it in the national tourism policy.
The draft for the new policy was put in the public domain a few weeks ago.
"Caravan tourism has a huge potential in India. We have received several suggestions for our draft policy and one of the important suggestion is on caravan tourism, which may find a place in the new tourism policy," Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Suman Billa said.

According to tourism sources, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh are promoting this tourism format.
Pointing out that space would be required for creating infrastructure like camps for power chargers and water facilities, sources said safety is an important aspect that needs to be ensured while promoting caravan tourism.

This apart, the Union Tourism Ministry is also fine tuning the new tourism policy with special attention on improving security for women and children in particular, they said.
Asked about when the tourism policy would be finalised, an official said the draft policy would be sent to 20 other union ministries including Home and Railways, seeking their suggestions.

"After completion of this process, we would be sending it to the cabinet," the official added.
The government is coming up with a new National Tourism Policy, almost 13 years after the existing policy was formulated in 2002.
The draft policy looks at promoting new tourism products including cinematic tourism and honeymoon tourism, while thrusting on seven key areas -- 'Swagat' (welcome), 'Soochana' (information), 'Suvidha' (facilitation), 'Suraksha' (safety), 'Sahyog' (cooperation), 'Samrachana' (infrastructure development) and 'Safai' (cleanliness).