Govt to launch national tourism policy on May 15

The government will launch its "revamped" tourism policy on May 15, incorporating various changes in the sector, which would be a "sea change" from the National Tourism Policy introduced in 2002.
"We have declared the date. The national tourism policy would be launched on May 15," Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said on the sidelines of a workshop on National Tourism Policy 2015 here today.
Asked whether the proposed policy would be a revised version of previous tourism policy, he said that it would a "sea change" as twelve years have passed away since the old policy was launched in 2002.

"It will be a total sea change. Twelve years have gone and it requires lot of changes. Of course, we will be using it (existing policy) as a base," he added.
The National Tourism Policy was introduced in 2002, but could not be implemented.
According to Tourism Secretary Lalit K Panwar, the ministry is "re-visiting" 2002 policy, in which "plan of action" was missing.

"The plan of action will have timelines," he said, while stressing the need for "updating" the National Tourism Policy of 2002.
A National Tourism Board, comprising a think-tank from the tourism sector and National Advisory Board on Tourism, a body akin the National Development Council with representatives from the Centre and state governments is likely to be incorporated in the policy, he said.

Earlier, tourism ministry officials said that they were working on increasing India's share in global tourism by two per cent before 2025.
Stakeholders from different segments of the tourism sector also made their suggestions ranging from improving amenities for tourists to enhancing air connectivity for promoting tourism in the country.