The issue of the safety of tourists, especially women tourists, is the Centre's foremost concern and the government will soon work out a PR plan and strategy to restore India's reputation for being a safe destination, Tourism Minister Shripad Yesso Naik said today.
Speaking at an Indian Association of Tour Operators meet here, Naik said, "I am aware of the fact that the tourism industry in India today is concerned about the issue of safety and security of tourists, especially women tourists. I would like to assure that it is also our foremost concern.
"We will soon work out a PR plan and strategy to bring back the image of India as a safe destination. Plans are on to harness technology for growth and development of tourism," Naik said.
IATO deals with the in-bound tourism in the country.
Referring to the BJP manifesto, Naik said, "In our poll manifesto, we identified tourism as a key sector to drive socio-economic progress and earn foreign exchange for the country."
Seeking the cooperation of the private sector, Naik said, "Tourism is one of the priority sectors for my government and I am sure that I will have the wholehearted cooperation of the private sector to take tourism to new heights. It is time now to scale up our operations in the international market."
Naik said steps are being taken to achieve an increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the country.
"I am also keen that the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) becomes operational at the earliest. This will provide a great push to in-bound tourism as we will be able to tap the last-minute traveller, the sponsors of business travellers and executives attending conferences," he said.
He promised to "make sincere efforts... In consultation with the Minister for Surface Transport" to look into the demand for seamless travel of tourist vehicles between states. He also spoke about starting by month-end Chinese-language training for tour guides.
"We have also initiated a programme to train the executives of members of IATO in spoken Chinese. The programme is scheduled to begin around end of June. This has been initiated as per your request and would help to ease the demand for Chinese-speaking guides," he said.
