In order to boost tourism sector in the country during Amrit Kaal, the Ministry of Tourism has taken the following initiatives: -

• The Ministry of Tourism undertakes several promotional activities in potential international & domestic markets to promote various tourism destinations and products of the country in holistic manner. This includes release of media campaigns, social media promotions, webinars, participation & support to promotional events, dissemination of information and engagement through website etc. In addition, Indian Missions overseas also undertake various promotional activities to attract more global travellers to various tourist destinations of the country.
• Ministry of Tourism launched the Incredible India Content Hub on the revamped Incredible India digital portal which is a comprehensive digital repository, featuring a rich collection of high-quality images, films, brochures and newsletters related to tourism in India. This repository is intended for the use of a diverse range of stakeholders, including tour operators, journalists, students, researchers, film makers, authors, influencers, content creators, government officials and ambassadors.
• The Ministry of Tourism under the schemes of ‘Swadesh Darshan’, National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD)’ and ‘Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development’ provides financial assistance to State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations/ Central Agencies for the development of tourism related infrastructure and facilities at various tourism destinations in the country.
• Ministry has revamped Swadesh Darshan Scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) with the objective to develop sustainable and responsible destinations following a destination centric approach.
• Ministry of Tourism has been providing financial assistance to State Governments/ UT Administrations for organising fairs/festivals and tourism related events.
• Ministry is conducting Programmes under the ‘Capacity Building for Service Providers’ (CBSP) Scheme to train and upgrade manpower to provide better service standards.
• To enhance the overall experience of tourists by making available a pool of local, trained professionals at tourist sites across the country, Ministry launched the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator (IITF) Certification Programme – a Pan-India online learning program.

Indian Railways have taken various steps to improve the railway network and other infrastructures, which are outlined below:

i)          Railway Infrastructure Projects are taken up on the basis of remunerativeness, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, socio-economic considerations, enhancing connectivity to tourist and cultural places etc. depending upon liabilities of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands. As on 01.04.2024, out of 488 Railway Infrastructure projects (187 New Line, 40 Gauge Conversion and 261 Doubling) of total length 44,488 Km costing approx. Rs. 7.44 lakh crore, 12,045 Km length has been commissioned across Indian Railways with an expenditure of Rs. 2.92 lakh crore. Augmenting railway infrastructures across Indian Railways is an ongoing and continuous process.

ii)         The Ministry of Railways has recently launched the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for development of Railway stations on Indian Railways. The Scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. It involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in phases to improve amenities at stations, like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, platform surfacing and cover over platform, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like 'One Station One Product', better passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station. So far, 1337 stations have been identified under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme over Indian Railways.

iii)       Under the National Rail Plan (NRP), around 243 tourist destinations in India were identified. Out of these, 111 places are already connected with the existing rail network, 30 tourist places are within a distance of 10 kms from the nearest railway station and 30 are within a distance of 15 kms from the nearest railway station. The remaining 72 locations are primarily wildlife sanctuaries, beaches and areas located in hilly and mountainous terrain where providing rail connectivity is either not advisable or difficult.

Further, with a view to provide enhanced amenities and facilities for tourists, projects for joint development of tourist amenities at 22 railway stations by the Ministry of Railways (MoR) and Ministry of Tourism were sanctioned on cost sharing basis.

Details of month-wise Foreign Tourist arrivals (FTAs) in the country during 2023 and 2024 (till August) are given below:

 

	Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) (in Lakhs)
Month	2023	2024 @
January	8.91	9.59
February	8.93	10.03
March	8.25	8.60
April	6.26	6.51
May	6.18	6.00
June	6.68	7.06
July	7.86	7.76
August	6.64	6.36
September	6.67	-
October	8.32	-
November	9.49	-
December	11.02	-
Total (Jan-Aug)	59.71	61.91
Grand Total	95.21	-

@: Provisional

Source: Bureau of Immigration (BOI)

This information was given by Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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