Published on : Saturday, July 14, 2018
“We have initiated the development of the iconic sites. The primary parameter for identifying these sites was footfall at these destinations. We selected 12 such sites for development including better connectivity and even more aggressive marketing of these destinations. We have had stakeholder consultations with the industry. We got their views, looked at the existing facilities and the existing gaps. Now we are in the process of appointing one consultant for each site so that they look at the feedback which we have got from the stakeholders and come out with a Master Plan for development of these sites. With this, we hope to iron out many of the challenges these destinations face,” Indian Tourism Minister Rashmi Verma said.
Accepting the fact that these sites face huge infrastructure challenges, she informed that after getting the Master Plan there will be another round of discussions with stakeholders.
Talking about the ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’, Verma said that the Ministry is getting a lot of bids regarding the scheme. “We are in the process of signing MoUs with many of the organizations. Even schools have come forward to adopt a monument. It is really good to see that it is not only the people or industry or organization who want to promote tourism but also others who have passion for maintenance of tourism destinations are coming forward to join hands with us in our endeavour,” she said.
She also spoke on connectivity and emphasized that the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of the government in fact proving to be a total game changer for tourism.
The Ministry also changed its campaign strategy. “Earlier, there was a generic campaign for the entire world. The ‘Incredible India campaign 2.0’ which we launched on the World Tourism Day last year, is more thematic and market specific. We have drawn up global campaign plan and the plan was launched. The campaign is already running on various electronic channels and digital platforms. Another shift has been that we are giving a lot of focus on digital marketing rather than focusing on print media. So, a large chunk of our marketing budget is now going for digital marketing. Our marketing Budget has also increased this year as we were able to spend 100 per cent of our Budget last year. We have already negotiated with various channels for our campaign this year. Again this year, our campaign is not going to be seasonal but with enhanced budget we will be able to do it year round and also in many of the new markets like China and Japan in their respective languages and we hope to penetrate many new markets in Latin America and many other areas,” she informed.
The Ministry is focusing on new markets like China and Russia. Russia has in fact shown 30 percent growth last year. “We will continue to focus on Russia which is a great market for us. We will have campaign in these markets. We are also going to have roadshows. We are also focusing on Buddhist countries as getting numbers from Buddhist countries in fact is very low hanging fruit,” she said. The Ministry is aiming to tap the global Buddhist market. “Better engagement with these countries with our marketing campaigns and roadshows will get us larger number from these countries. In fact, we started our roadshows by going to Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand,” she added.
While the Ministry was focusing on Buddhist market, it also found great interest in other segments. For example: Myanmar is looking at India as a medical tourism destination and Thailand looks at India for other reasons including wellness tourism etc. Hence, there are a lot of potential and the Ministry along with the industry is set to work in these countries to get larger number at the regional level. “We are focusing on getting tourists from Buddhist countries, regions and ASEAN in a big way. That’s the strategy we are adopting,” Verma informed.
Meanwhile, the Ministry is organizing a Buddhist Conclave in August in New Delhi. “We are not only getting Tour Operators from Buddhist countries but also the leading monks and prospective investors from these countries. We are also getting film made of important Buddhist sites in India which will be running in these countries. During the conclave, we are also having an investor meet and trying to get investment for these Buddhist sites. So, after having a conclave here, we will be taking all delegates to Ajanta by charter flights and from there we will take them to Bodh Gaya and other locations,” she informed. The Ministry which launched new films on Yoga and wildlife is moving to other films on new themes like luxury, cuisine and others. “All these films are already ready and we hope to use these films in various markets as per the requirement of the market. So, this thematic is going to be the focus of the Incredible India Campaign 2.0 this year,” she informed and added that the Ministry is planning roadshows in Russia, China, Australia and New Zealand in the next two months.