09 November, 2011
India awarded “World’s Leading Destination” at 2011 World Travel Market
India stole the limelight at the World Tourism Mart 2011 in London by winning two global awards — “World’s Leading Destination” and “World’s Leading Tourist Board”. Subodh Kant Sahai, Minister of Tourism, Government of India received the awards from Graham E. Cooke, President and Founder, World Travel Awards, at the Excel Exhibition Centre where he said India planned to welcome another five million tourists in the next 2-3 years in addition to the five million recorded this year, according to a PTI report.
“We have recorded five million tourist arrivals this year and we want to add another five million within the next two to three years which will help create 25 million additional jobs in the country,” Sahai said. Answering a question on Visa restrictions on tourists, which prohibits a tourist from revisiting the country within two months of the first visit, he said the issue would be “resolved” soon. “We are going to remove this barrier.”
Sahai added, “Our aim in the Ministry now is to increase India’s share in the International Tourist Arrivals from the present 0.6 per cent to 1 per cent (of 1 billion travellers) by the end of 2016. In India, the tourism sector is going to be recognised as an infrastructure sector. We need two million hotel rooms if we are going to add five million tourists. We feel tourism is the only industry which will help eradicate poverty from the masses. A traveller to India is contributing to the upliftment of the poorest of the poor in the country. We have started late (in developing the tourism industry), but we are on the job to make it a success.”
Answering a question on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he said 1.6 million people had visited the valley this year. Nawang Rigzin Jora, Minister - Tourism, Jammu and Kashmir who was also present, said, “We are suffering from a problem of perceptions. Even a minor stone-throwing incident is being exaggerated as a law and order problem. So far 1.6 million tourists have visited the state this year and before the season ends, the figure will touch two million.”
Rajesh Prasad, India’s Acting High Commissioner to the UK said that the High Commission in London, on an average, issues 2,500 Visas daily and efforts were on to provide Visas within three days of submitting the application.


