e-visa is adding wings to Incredible India, believes tourism secretary

India is heading towards being a tourism hotspot, thanks to Modi government’s proactive steps to ease up the formalities of entering into the country. Tourism secretary Lalit K Panwar told the Press Trust of India (PTI) that steps taken by the government including Smart City and Make in India has given Indian tourism a further boost.

"Over 1.5 lakh people from 150 countries including China were issued online electronic travel visas by the Centre in the last seven months which is something never done by any previous government.”

"This shows how keen the government is to attract people to India, see things for themselves and invest here. The ambitious Smart City project is also a step in that direction," Panwar told PTI .
The smart city project will give a multi-dimensional boost to tourism the country linking it with development, livelihood, trade and investment and government also wants people to come to India, see its potential in different sectors and then decide to invest here, he said.


He further informed the news agency that the Union government also has plans to launch a Swadesh Darshan Yojana to boost domestic tourism in the country under which all Himalayan, coastal and desert states besides those through which Ganga river passes will be developed as tourist circuits.

With the Ganga originating in Garhwal Himalayas, Uttarakhand will definitely be part of this ambitious scheme, he further said while speaking to the PTI.

Panwar has also advised Uttarakhand government to implement the Regulation of Travel Trade Act in the state on the lines of 13 other states in the country which have tourism based economies, including Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, where the Act has already been brought into force.


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