The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has recommended to the Union ministry of tourism for the announcement of National Tourism Policy in 2017. It is to be recalled that the draft of the policy had already been prepared in 2015 and had been distributed to the stakeholders for their inputs.The recommendation has been mooted in a report – ‘India Inbound Tourism: The Next Growth Trajectory’ released in the inaugural session of the Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) 2017 on April 23.The report states that the draft policy reflects the evolving paradigm of the industry and has also suggested several developmental initiatives. FICCI has urged that the draft be finalized as a time-bound mission so that the policy can be released this year itself.
The policy will provide right impetus and direction to the state tourism policies as well. Furthermore, it will also ensure fast pace implementation of several key initiatives and institutional reforms proposed in the draft tourism policy.The other recommendations in the report relating to policy and regulatory interventions pertains to setting up of a National Tourism Authority, increasing budget allocation to tourism industry, suggesting lower GST slabs for tourism sector and increasing application window for e-visa from one month to six months. It also urges for promoting hassle free travel by increasing e-visas to more countries.World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) research forecasts that between 2016 and 2026, the 10 fastest growing destinations for leisure-travel spending will be India.