IATO Urges Govt to Set Up Tourism Board; Seeks Rs 1,000 Cr Budgetary Allocation

Domestic tour operators' lobby IATO on Monday said it has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up an India Tourism Board, along with a budgetary allocation of Rs 1,000 crore under the Incredible India Campaign, to boost foreign tourist arrivals.

IATO observed that the foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India have not yet reached the pre-COVID levels achieved in 2019, according to its assessment.

"While the importance of inbound tourism as a precious foreign exchange earner and soft diplomacy tool cannot be over-emphasised, India as a destination with such raw and natural beauty is performing way below its potential.

"To step up, IATO has written to the PM, where it has urged immediate budgetary allocation of Rs 1,000 crore under Incredible India Campaign and formation of India Tourism Board under the PM's leadership with the specific objective of increasing FTAs," IATO stated.

It further emphasised that the measures are needed as the coming season is a few months away and can help boost inbound tourism in the current financial year.

IATO President Ravi Gosain said at a time when global trade is facing unprecedented disruptions due to tariff wars and geopolitical shifts, tourism exports remain unaffected by such constraints.

"Unlike goods, India's tourism export (i.e. foreign tourists spending in India), which is non-tariff based, brings direct foreign exchange earnings into the country. This positions inbound tourism as a stable, sustainable, and immediate contributor to India's current account with valuable foreign exchange, and employment generation and balances forex trade deficit. Yet, regretfully the country is lagging in its effort to attract foreign tourists," he stated.

Besides, the tour operators' lobby has also sought simplified visa facilitation, expanding the scope of e-visas, fast-tracking group tourist visas and exploring visa fee waivers for select countries to boost foreign tourist arrivals.

"Further we need to incentivise international airlines and air charters to improve air connectivity to key tourism circuits, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 destinations," Gosain said.